"Tl 



n 



THE 



PHILOSOPHY 

OF 

NATURAL HISTORY. 



BY 



WILLIAM SMELLIE, 

MEMBER OF THE ANTIQUARIAN AND ROYAL SOCIETIES OF EDINBURGH. 



WITH AN 

INTRODUCTION 

AND 

VARIOUS ADDITIONS AND ALTERATIONS, 

INTENDED TO ADAPT IT TO 

THE PRESENT STATE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

BY 

JOHN WARE, M. D, 



>tereot£j)e H&ftfon. 



BOSTON: 
HILLIARD, GRAY, AND COMPANY. 

1838. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1835, 

By Hilliard, Gray, and Company, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



stereotyped at the 
boston type and stereotype foundry. 



EXTRACT 

FROM THE PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL WORK 



About fifteen years ago, in a conversation with the late woi 
thy, respectable, and ingenious Lord Karnes, upon the too gen- 
eral neglect of natural knowledge, his Lordship suggested the 
idea of composing a book on the Philosophy of Natural His- 
tory. In a work of this kind, he proposed that the productions 
of Nature, which to us are almost infinite, should, instead of being 
treated of individually, be arranged under general heads ; that, 
in each of these divisfons, the known facts, as well as reasonings, 
should be collected and methodized in the form of regular dis- 
courses ; that as few technical terms as possible should be em- 
ployed; and that all the useful and amusing views arising from 
the different subjects should be exhibited in such a manner as to 
convey both pleasure and information. 

This task his Lordship was pleased to think me not altogether 
unqualified to attempt. The idea struck me. I thought that 
a work of this kind, if executed even with moderate abilities, 
might excite a taste for examining the various objects which 
every where solicit our attention. A habit of observation refines 
our feelings. It is a source of interesting amusement, prevents 
idle or vicious propensities, and exalts the mind to a love of vir- 
tue and of rational entertainment. I likewise reflected, that men 
of learning often betray, an ignorance on the most common sub- 
jects of Natural History, which it is painful to remark. 



IV 

1 have been occasionally employed, since the period which I 
have mentioned, in collecting and digesting materials from the 
most authentic sources. These materials I have interspersed 
with such observations, reflections, and reasonings, as occurred to 
me from considering the multifarious subjects of which I have 
ventured to treat I knew that a deliberate perusal of the numer- 
ous writers from Aristotle downwards, would require a consid- 
erable portion of time. But the avocations of business, and the 
translating of a work so voluminous as the Natural History of the 
Count de Buff on, rendered my progress much slower than I 
wished. I now, however, with much diffidence, submit my labors 
to public opinion. 

With regard to the manner of writing, it is perhaps impossible 
for a North Briton, in a work of any extent, to avoid what are 
called Scotticisms. But I have endeavored to be every where 
perspicuous, and to shun every sentiment and expression which 
might have a tendency to injure the feelings of individuals. 

Indulgent readers, though they must perceive errors and imper- 
fections, will naturally make some allowance for the variety jf 
research, and the labor of condensing so much matter into so small 
a compass. He is a bad author, it has been said, who affords 
neither an aphorism nor a motto. 

Upon the whole, the general design of this publication is, to 
convey to the minds of youth, and of such as may have paid little 
attention to the study of Nature, a species of knowledge which it 
is not difficult to acquire. The knowledge will be a perpetual and 
inexhaustible source of many pleasures ; it will afford innocent 
and virtuous amusement, and will occupy agreeably the leisure or 
vacant hours of life. 



ADVERTISEMENT 
TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



In preparing this edition of Smellie's Philosophy of Natural 
History, I have endeavored to avail myself of such modern dis- 
coveries and improvements in Physiology and Natural History as 
are connected with the subjects of which the book treats. It 
will be observed that instead of the two first chapters of the ori- 
ginal work, I have substituted an Introduction, containing some 
very general views of animal and vegetable life, and a brief 
sketch of the structure and classification of the whole animal 
kingdom. That something of this kind was rendered necessary 
on account of the light thrown upon these subjects by the progress 
recently made in Comparative Anatomy, cannot be doubted ; 
and it was found easier to compose these chapters entirely anew, 
than to incorporate the requisite additions with them as they 
originally stood. 

With regard to the remainder of the work, although a good deal 
has been added or rewritten, yet it has upon the whole been made 
considerably shorter, by the omission of many passages, which did 
not seem of sufficient importance to be retained ; and also by the 
omission of many passages and a few chapters which touch upon 
subjects interesting only to the scientific reader, and which were 
deemed unnecessary in an edition intended for general use. 

Some apology may perhaps be required for the freedom with 
which these alterations have been made in a standard work of so 
great merit On this subject it can only be said, that there 



n 

was no other method by which it could be adapted to the use of 
young persons learning the elements of Natural History. Some of 
the views contained in the original edition have been since proved 
unfounded, and these it was necessary to correct. In some parts 
of it are details of great length, and often irrelevant to the sub- 
ject, which it was thought proper to abridge or exclude ; and I 
trust that, upon a fair comparison of it with this edition, I shall 
appear to have taken no greater liberties than were necessary to 
fit it for the purpose for which it is principally intended — the 
instruction of the young. 

The whole Introduction, as was observed above, has been pre- 
pared by the editor, with the exception of a few passages, distin- 
guished by inverted commas, which are retained from the original 
work. In the body of the book, those passages which have 
been added, or which have been entirely remodelled or rewritten, 
are distinguished by single inverted commas; quotations from 
other authors being marked in the usual way by double inverted 
commas. 

J. W. 

Boston, January, 1824. 



In the Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Editions, no alterations, 
except of a merely verbal nature, have been made. 

J. W. 
Boston, March, 1834. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Chapter I. 



Chapter II. 



Chapter IIL 



Of the Nature of Living Bodies and the 
Distinction between Animals and 
Vegetables 1-12 

General Remarks on the Structure of 

Vegetables 12-15 

Of the Structure of Animals ...... 15-84 



PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



Chapter I. 


Chapter IL 


Chapter III. 


Chapter IV. 


Chapter V. 


Chapter VI. 


Chapter VII. 


Chapter VIII 


Chapter IX. 


Chapter X. 


Chapter XL 


Chapter XII. 



Of Respiration 85-99 

Of the Motions of Animals 100-108 

Of Instinct 109-116 

Of the Senses 117-134 

Of Infancy 134-141 

Of the Growth and Food of Animals 141-154 

Of the Transformations of Animals 154-168 

Of the Habitations of Animals 168-209 

Of the Hostilities of Animals. 209-227 

Of the Artifices of Animals 227-237 

Of the Society of Animals 238-250 

Of the Docility of Animals 250-269 



Vlll 

Chapter XIII. Of the Covering, Migration, and Torpidity 

of Animals 269-293 

Chapter XIV. Of the Longevity and Dissolution of Or- 
ganized Bodies , . . 293-306 

Chapter XV. Of the Progressive Scale or Chain of Be- 
ings in the Universe . — 307-311 

Analytical Table of Contents * 313-321 

Explanations of Scientific Terms. 323-327 



THE 

PHILOSOPHY 



OF 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



INTRODUCTION. 



CHAPTER I. 

OP THE NATURE OF LIVING BODIES, AND THE DISTINCTION 
BETWEEN ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES. 

The most superficial observers are in the habit of remark- 
ng certain great and striking differences in the nature struc- 
ture, and qualities of the objects around them. They per- 
ceive at once, that a stone is something very different from a 
plant, and a pknt something very difflrent from an animal 
S ^ d0 not task theawehes to determine exacdy in 
what the difference consists. It is natural, as well as con- 
venient, for mankind to class things together'accordm, to their 
most obvious characteristics; and in this way we have come 
into the use ot a certain arrangement of natural bodies not 
founded upon a knowledge of their intimate nature and essen 
Ualpropert.es, but upon those qualities which produce the 
most lively impressions on our senses after only a sLht examf- 
nation. Thus have been established the mleral^egeSe 
and ammal kingdoms, which include under them all fhe oft 
jects of the material world. 

It is obvious that this arrangement is founded upon an ex- 
amination of those objects only, which are mo/within our 
immediate observation, and with whose qualities ZTZZ. 
t.es we have been most familiar. We see that rocks X 
mountains are immovably fixed to the same spot a Lai 
always of the same size; that the earth does™ tcLn^Ts 
surface except by the operation of violent and unusual Sus 



2 NATURE OF LIVING BODIES. 

Plants, on the contrary, are undergoing constant and sponta- 
neous changes; some are dying and decaying, whilst others 
are sprouting up from the earth, coming forth, as it were, 
from a new creation, giving birth to a new set of individuals 
like themselves, and sinking in their turn to decay. Further 
still, we see animals, not only coming into existence, living, 
growing, and giving origin to other animals, but exercising 
various other offices; feeling, moving, uttering sounds, suf- 
fering and enjoying, establishing a thousand connections with 
things and beings about them, winch contribute to the sup- 
port or happiness of their existence. In this way we have 
come to the division of created things into the three classes 
above mentioned. It is sufficient and convenient for the pop- 
ular purposes to which it has been usually applied, but it is 
evident, if we but examine it, that it is not strictly and scien- 
tifically correct. 

A more accurate and philosophical division of natural ob- 
jects is into such as are possessed of life, and such as are not 
possessed of life. This throws animals and vegetables into 
one class, and all mineral substances into the other; for there 
is a much more close and intimate relation between the two 
former, than there is between either of them and the latter. 
They have many circumstances of analogy with one another, 
in respect to their structure and functions, in which they do 
not at all resemble any object or operation of the mineral king- 
dom. These two classes, then, include all the various bodies 
which compose the world around us, and those belonging to 
each are distinguished as possessing certain general proper- 
ties, and being governed by certain general laws, common, in 
a greater or less degree, to all of the same class. 

In the first place, living bodies are distinguished from other 
substances in the mode of their origin ; they are always pro- 
duced by other preceding individuals similar to themselves ; 
they are always the offspring of parents. This is an obvious 
and complete distinction. No mineral substance, no sub- 
stance not possessed of life, is ever brought into existence in 
this way. It is true, that new bodies in the mineral world 
are sometimes formed by the accidental aggregation of par- 
ticles, or by the spontaneous combinations which are occa- 
sionally the result of chemical laws ; but this is clearly some- 
thing very different from the mode of production which takes 
place in living bodies. One stone does not produce another 
like itself; a crystal does not produce a crystal, nor one grain 
of sand another. There is nothing like the relation of parent 
and offspring. 



NATURE OF LIVING BODIES. d 

In the second place, living bodies differ as to the mode of 
their existence, insomuch as they are dependent upon other 
things beside themselves for the continuance of that existence. 
The matter of which they are composed is constantly chang- 
ing. This matter is, in fact, only common matter endowed 
for a certain period with the powers of life, in consequence of 
being united to living systems. By the various internal ope- 
rations constantly going on, part of this matter is expended, 
is sent out of the system ; this loss must be repaired by the 
addition of new matter. Hence the necessity of nourishment 
to the support of life ; hence the necessity of a regular sup- 
ply, to every thing living, of a certain quantity of food adapted 
in kind to the nature of the individual. This food is ope- 
rated upon by the organs of the animal or vegetable, is assimi- 
lated to it, and its properties are modified until it becomes 
fit to make a component part of it. This is nutrition, an es- 
sential process of living bodies, by which they are enabled to 
increase in size and strength, to modify the structure of their 
different parts, and to maintain them in a fit state for perform- 
ing the offices for which they are designed. Minerals, on the 
contrary, have no such dependence ; the matter of which they 
consist is always the same ; they contain within themselves 
every thing which is essential to their existence, and have, 
of course, no necessity for nutrition or growth. It is true 
that these substances sometimes increase in size, as happens 
with regard to stalactites, the deposition of crystals, and the 
formation of alluvia. But there is this marked difference be- 
tween all such instances of growth, and that of animals or 
vegetables ; that, in the former case, it amounts to the mere 
juxtaposition of similar particles, unchanged in their nature ; 
whilst in the latter the particles are changed in their nature, 
and subjected to the operation of entirely new laws. In the 
former case, the growth depends upon a principle operating 
from without ; in the latter, upon a principle operating from 
within. 

But, in the third place, though dependent upon other sub- 
stances in this way for the means of continuing their exist- 
ence, living bodies possess, in another point of view, a kind of 
independence upon all other matter. They are removed, by 
the possession of the powers of life, in a certain degree, out of 
the influence of physical and chemical laws ; they contain 
within themselves a principle by which they are enabled di- 
rectly to resist the operation of those laws, which would other- 
wise insure their speedy destruction. They depend upon 



4 NATURE OF LIVING BODIES. 

the things around them for the materials for their support ; 
but the power of altering the nature of those materials, and 
appropriating them to their own use, is peculiar to themselves. 
x he functions of living systems are not only performed with- 
out the assistance of the physical powers of matter, but often 
in direct opposition to them ; and the substances which are 
introduced into them, lose their chemical relations, and are 
combined according to new laws, and for new purposes. 

This power of insulation, possessed by living systems, is in 
no instance more strikingly evinced, than in the possession 
by animals of a certain degree of vital heat, which they pre- 
serve under all circumstances, short of those which impair or 
destroy the texture of their parts. This degree of heat — 
which in man is about 98° of Fahrenheit's thermometer — 
continues nearly the same, even when we are exposed to the 
most intense cold, and is but little elevated, when we are sub- 
jected to a heat above that of boiling water. In many coun- 
tries, in which the degree of cold is for many months in the 
year very much below the freezing point of mercury, men not 
Only exist, but enjoy all the comforts of life. In some high 
latitudes, Europeans have been exposed to temperatures as 
low as - 50° or even - 60° of Fahrenheit's thermometer, that 
is, to a cold 180° below the natural standard of animal heat, 
and have escaped every ill consequence. Very lately the 
whole of two. ships' crews wintered in about 75° of north lat- 
itude in perfect safety, where the temperature of the air was, 
for many weeks together, almost constantly below 30°, and 
where they became so accustomed to severe cold, that the 
atmosphere, when at zero, felt mild and comfortable. On 
the other hand, in many countries men exist without difficulty 
under a high degree of heat. In Sicily, during certain winds, 
the thermometer has been observed at 112°, in South Amer- 
ica by Humbolt at 115°, in Africa at 125°. But, for a lim- 
ited period, much higher degrees of artificial heat have been 
borne without injury. Individuals have exposed themselves 
voluntarily to the air of ovens at temperatures from 260° to 
315° of Fahrenheit's thermometer, without any great, incon- 
venience, while water was boiling and meat baking in the 
same atmosphere. These facts show a power of resisting the 
operation of external causes, which is possessed by no sub- 
stances except such as are endowed with life, and is, proba- 
bly, possessed in some degree by all that are. For, although 
vegetables and the lower orders of animals are not capable 
of resisting to the same extent the influence of heat and cold, 



NATURE OF LIVING BODIES. O 

yet they all show, in some measure, the existence of the same 
power. And in the most imperfect species/where there is 
no other evidence, this power is evinced by the fact, that the 
individual freezes with greater difficulty before than after 
deathj other circumstances being equal.* 

Another illustration of the same principle is derived from 
the change which takes place in the body after death. With 
this change we are familiar. No sooner has it taken place, 
than the heat and moisture of the external air commence the 
work of destruction. The skin is discolored ; it becomes 
green and livid ; the eyes sink in their sockets ; the flesh be- 
comes soft and putrid ; it falls from the bones, and is con- 
verted partly into fetid exhalations, and turns partly into dust. 
Even the bones finally yield, and lose their form and consist- 
ency. Now, why should this happen more readily after than 
before death ? The composition of the body is the same, and 
it is exposed to the same moisture and heat. It happens be- 
cause the life has departed which gave to the body a power 
of resisting the operation of these causes. 

This suggests to us, in the fourth place, another distinction 
of living substances, viz. that they all terminate their exist- 
ence in death. By this event, the materials which entered 
into their composition are deprived of the bond which held 
them together and gave to them their peculiar form, viz. the 
principle of life. They therefore separate, and retain only 
those properties which they possessed before becoming parts 
of a living system. Dust returns to dust, earth to earth. It 
is true, that some of the parts of living bodies, both animals 
and vegetables, do not very readily undergo the process of 
decay. The bones, teeth, shells, and horns of animals ; the 
trunks, branches, and roots of trees, retain, for an almost in- 



* In quadrupeds and birds, the animal heat is generally greater than that of the 
surrounding atmosphere, whilst in animals of the inferior classes, it is seldom very 
different from that of the objects around them. The former are called warm-blooded, 
and the latter cold-blooded. In the former, the temperature is capable of but 
slight variation from external causes ; in the latter, its range is pretty extensive, 
and it varies a great number of degrees. The temperature of a man plunged into 
cold salt water at 44°, has been known to sink to 83°, and when exposed to a heated 
atmosphere, to rise to 100° ; in other warm-blooded animals similar varieties 
have been observed. But the temperature of the viper, a cold-blooded animal, when 
exposed to a heat of 108°, rises to 92°, and when exposed to a cold of 10°, sinks to 
about the freezing point of water, showing at once an extensive range of tempera- 
ture within which the functions can go on, and at the same time a decided power 
of resistance against any further alteration. 

Eggs possess an analogous power. A new-laid egg, and one which has been fro- 
zen and thawed, being exposed in a freezing mixture together, the former will be 
some minutes longer in freezing than the latter. This has been ascertained by ex- 
periment. The same is true of the lower orders of animals and vegetables. 

l* 



6 DISTINCTION BETWEEN ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES, 

definite length of time, under certain circumstances, their 
shape and substance. This, however, is owing, not to their 
continuing to possess life itself, but to the particular nature 
and composition of the texture of which they are composed, 
Nothing like this takes place in other substances : they can 
be destroyed only by the action of some mechanical agent, 
which separates their parts, or by that of some chemical one, 
which alters their combinations. 

These are circumstances of distinction common to all liv- 
ing bodies, whether animal or vegetable. But another sub- 
ject of inquiry is, How are these to be distinguished from each 
other? Although it may seem very easy to distinguish an 
animal from a vegetable, yet the true principle of distinction 
eludes investigation. Many philosophers have attempted to 
define wherein it consists, but have failed in the attempt. 
There is generally little practical difficulty in determining 
whether any particular substance belongs to the animal or 
vegetable kingdom, and yet so nearly do the lower species of 
animals resemble plants in the functions they perform? that 
it is almost impossible to point out what constitutes the real 
difference between them. 

Some writers, among whom was the celebrated Buffbn, have 
believed that there is in fact no exact boundary between the 
animal and vegetable kingdoms ; that they run into each other 
at their extremities, and form so regular a gradation from the 
one to the other, that no precise dividing line can be drawn 
between them. But although there is this apparent confu- 
sion at the boundaries of the two kingdoms, yet, generally 
speaking, animals are distinguished from plants by their com- 
position, their structure, their mode of life, &c. And although, 
with respect to each particular circumstance, there may be 
particular exceptions, yet, taking the whole together, we get 
a good general idea of an animal as distinguished from a 
plant. Thus the power of locomotion, or of motion from 
place to place, has been considered as peculiar to animals, 
and in a general way it is so ; yet there are many exceptions. 
Oysters, the sea anemone, corals, and corallines, now known 
to be of an animal nature, " can hardly be said to enjoy the 
power of locomotion. Many species remain fixed to the 
rocks on which they were produced, and have no motion but 
that of extending and contracting their bodies." And, on 
the other hand, some species of plants are not fixed by roots 
to one and the same spot, but float about in the sea, receiv- 
ing nourishment from its waters. 



DISTINCTION BETWEEN ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES. 7 

The power of moving some part of themselves by an in- 
ternal principle has also been believed peculiar to animals. 
It is not so. Many plants are possessed of the faculty, not 
only of motion of this kind, but of moving as if with some defi- 
nite purpose. " The sensitive plant possesses it in an emi- 
nent degree. The slightest touch makes its leaves suddenly 
shrink, and together with the branch bend down towards the 
earth. But the moving plant, or Hedysarum gyrans, fur- 
nishes the most astonishing example of vegetable motion. It is 
a native of the East Indies. Its movements are not excited 
by the contact of external bodies, but solely by the influence 
of the sun's rays.* Its motions are confined to the leaves, 
which are supported by long flexible foot-stalks. When the 
sun shines, the leaves move briskly in every direction. Their 
general motion, however, is upward and downward. But they 
not unfrequently turn almost round ; and then, their foot- 
stalks are evidently twisted. These motions go on incessantly, 
as long as the heat of the sun continues. But they cease 
during the night, and when the weather is cold and cloudy. 
The Dionsea muscipula, or Venus' flytrap, a plant of Carolina, 
affords another instance of rapid vegetable motion. Its leaves 
are jointed, and furnished with two rows of strong prickles. 
Their surfaces are covered with a number of minute glands, 
which secrete a sweet liquor, and allure the approach of flies. 
When these parts are touched by the legs of the fly, the two 
lobes of the leaf instantly rise up, the rows of prickles lock 
themselves fast together, and squeeze the unwary animal to 
death. If a straw or pin be introduced between the lobes, 
the same motions are excited." 

The common barberry (Berberis vulgaris) is another in- 
stance to the same effect. When its flower is fully expanded, 
if the inside of one of the filaments of its stamens be just 
touched by a pin or a straw, it contracts instantly, and throws 
its anther forward with some force against the stigma. 

" When a seed is sown in a reversed position, the young 
root turns downward to enter the earth, and the stem bends 
upward into the air. Confine a young stem to an inclined 
position, and its extremity will soon assume its former per- 
pendicular direction," The roots of a tree growing on dry 
or barren ground, in the neighborhood of that which is moist 
or fertile, become larger, longer, and more full in that direc- 
tion, than in any other, as if extending themselves to obtain 

* Sir J. E. Smith asserts that light is not necessary, but that only a warm, still 
atmosphere is required to produce this phenomenon in perfection 



8 DISTINCTION BETWEEN ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES, 

the nourishment which can there be afforded them, If we 
twist the branch of a tree, so that the under surface of the 
leaves shall come uppermost, they gradually turn upon their 
foot-stalk till the proper side is exposed to the rays of the 
sun. This they will do repeatedly, until they have become 
injured by the exertion ; and if the leaf be confined, so that 
it cannot resume its natural position, its stalk will become 
twisted by the effort to accomplish it. The sunflower, the 
leaves of the mallow, and some other plants, generally turn 
their faces towards the sun. The tendrils of plants, on the 
other hand, move always towards the shade, in whatever di- 
rection it may be. In a greenhouse, if exposed to the morn- 
ing light, they direct themselves towards the west, at noon to 
the north, and at night to the east. They are also attracted 
by opaque bodies. 

Instances of a similar nature are afforded by the sleep of 
plants, as it has been denominated. The leaves of many 
plants are folded together during the night, and droop as if 
dying. In some instances they are so arranged, when in this 
state, as to serve as a cover to the flowers or young fruit, 
protecting them from the noxious effects of the dew. The 
flowers of other plants follow the same law, and close at the 
approach of night, for the apparent object of shelter and pro- 
tection. The modes in which this is done in different cases 
are exceeding various, but the simple mention of the fact is 
sufficient for the purpose of illustrating this internal power of 
motion. 

Yet, although we cannot distinctly point out in what this 
kind of vegetable motion differs from the motions performed 
by animals, there is no difficulty in perceiving that they are 
entirely different. Although we see in the vegetable world 
many instances, where plants exhibit phenomena which seem 
almost to imply the possession of volition, of sensation, and 
of thought, yet, upon examination of each of these instances, 
we find ourselves in no danger of confounding the plants, in 
which they exist, with the animal kingdom. The general 
aspect, the form, the structure, and the relation of the various 
parts, are entirely different ; and it is in their general charac- 
ter that these two classes of created things differ from one 
another, and not in the possession of any one distinct discrimi- 
nating principle. Let us look for one moment at the circum- 
stances in which vegetables and animals are distinguished by 
the possession of different organs, a different structure, and a 
difference in the principles which actuate them 



DISTINCTION BETWEEN ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES. 9 

1. With respect to their mode of taking and digesting food. 
In animals this is done by an act of their own, by the exer- 
cise of volition, They in some sense exercise choice and 
make efforts to get that which is adapted to their purposes. 
This is obvious enough with regard to the larger and more 
perfect animals ; but even in the most imperfect kinds, as in 
the polypes, we find that they are capable of sending out their 
arms or feelers in search of food, which, when offered to their 
grasp, they c^eize and convey into the organ appropriated for 
digestion. It is true that the roots and other parts of plants, 
as has been already remarked, show a sort of intelligence and 
discrimination in the course which they take in search of 
moist and fertile ground, and in avoiding or seeking light or 
shade, which is analogous to the low degree of power mani- 
fested in the feelers of the polypes ; yet the analogy is but 
slight, and does not imply the existence of spontaneous and 
voluntary motion. Animals are affected by the sensation of 
hunger, and are induced by it to make immediate and volun- 
tary exertions for its relief. Vegetables are not so affected, 
and the efforts which they make to obtain nutriment are slow, 
and accomplished as much by the gradual operation of ex- 
ternal circumstances, as by an internal and voluntary power. 

2. Digestion is performed in animals by means of a stom- 
ach and an intestinal canal. The food is taken into the body, 
and is there operated upon by organs, which are different in 
different species, according to the* nature of the substances 
on which they subsist. The principal of these is a stomach. 
In plants, on the contrary, nourishment is absorbed directly 
from the earth by the roots, or from the air by the leaves; 
there is no intermediate organ where a change is wrought in 
its nature before it is introduced into the circulation ; it is 
true that it undergoes such a change in order to adapt it to 
the purposes of the particular plant into which it is taken, 
yet it is not effected, as in animals, by means of their internal 
surface. For although it has been said, that the polypes, 
when turned inside out, continue to perform the function of 
digestion without interruption as under ordinary circum- 
stances, yet even in this case it is still the internal surface 
which digests, that which was formerly external, exchanging 
functions as well as situations with that which was within. 

3. Animals differ also from vegetables in the nature of their 
food. They are not capable, like plants, of being nourished 
by the common elements of nature, but require substances 
which have been already organized^ and have once formed a 



10 DISTINCTION BETWEEN ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES^ 

part either of some plant or animal. The polype cannot sub- 
sist upon the water in which it floats ; it cannot thrust its 
feelers into the soil and draw up nourishment from it like the 
roots of vegetables : no animal can do it. They must have 
recourse to either animal or vegetable substances which are 
adapted to their wants and are thrown in their way. The 
earthworm, it is true, swallows earth for its nutriment, but 
only that earth which is full of organized matter in a state of 
decay ; and it is only that matter which is digested, whilst the 
bare earth is evacuated without alteration. 

4. Animals differ from vegetables in the time of taking 
their nourishment. The roots of the latter are constantly 
exposed to the contact of the substances from which they de- 
rive their support ; they are always buried in the earth which 
contains and from which they absorb their food. Their leaves, 
also, are always spread to the air from which they receive 
one portion of their support. It is not so with animals; their 
supplies of food are only occasional. They are stimulated 
by appetite, at certain definite periods, to seek for the means 
of gratifying it : after obtaining which they are engaged by 
other occupations, and are liberated from this care, until an 
additional supply becomes necessary, and they are excited to 
obtain it by a fresh appetite. 

5. Animals differ again from plants in being possessed of 
the powers of feeling and voluntary motion. It is true that 
very remarkable phenomena are exhibited by individuals of 
the vegetable kingdom, which seem to imply the possession 
of these powers. But examination shows a distinction be- 
tween these instances and those which are afforded by ani- 
mals. There is not a close resemblance between the con- 
traction of the leaves of the sensitive plant or the vibratory 
motions of the Hedysarum gyrans, and the extension of the 
feelers of the polype or the contraction of the shell of the 
oyster. The former motions seem to proceed from the actual 
contact of some substance with the moving part, or from the 
stimulus of light and heat; the latter, from the spontaneous 
and voluntary efforts of the animal itself. These differences 
would be made more obvious by a knowledge of the history 
of the lower classes of animals. But it may be at present 
observed, that however remarkable these instances of vegeta- 
ble motions are, and although they seem as if they might be 
the result of knowledge, volition, and sensation, they are yet 
different in nature from the knowledge, volition, and sensa- 
tion manifested by animals, and do not give cause for con* 
founding these two classes of beings together. 



DISTINCTION BETWEEN ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES, 11 

6. The structure and form of vegetables afford also marks^ 
•of distinction. These are sufficiently familiaf without any 
particular explanation. It is true that there are some marine 
productions, such as the sponges, coral, &c, having the shape 
and in some measure the appearance of plants, which are yet, 
without doubt, of animal origin. But of these it is to be re- 
marked, that they are not animals themselves, but the resi- 
dence of animals ,* they are substances produced by the labor 
of myriads of little polypes, who pile them up in order to 
serve for their covering and habitation ; and although, when 
thus produced, they have the external shape of vegetables, the 
creatures themselves, which have produced them, do not bear 
the smallest resemblance to plants. 

7. The chemical composition of vegetables also differs 
from that of animals. The elements essential to vegetables 
are three in number, oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen; and 
from these three principally are formed all the different sub- 
stances which we meet among plants. But besides these, 
animals require the presence of azote or nitrogen also, which 
is necessary to their composition ; and from this, combined 
with the others in different proportions, are formed all the 
parts absolutely essential to animal existence. There are, it 
is true, many other elements which are found in some parts 
of plants or animals ; but these are all which are absolutely 
essential to the composition of vegetable or animal substance. 
Thus, in the bark of some plants, besides the three elements 
necessary to its formation, there will be found a portion of 
silex or flint ; and in the bones of animals, in addition to the 
four essential elements, lime is deposited in large quantities. 
So that, although there must always be present at least these 
necessary and specified elements in the composition of vege- 
tables and animals, there is no limit, no principle which pre- 
cludes the admission of others. 

In consequence of this difference in chemical composition, 
and perhaps of the mode in which the elements are combined, 
other differences of a particular character may be detected 
between substances of a vegetable and those of an animal 
origin ; differences which serve, in cases of doubt, to assist us 
in deciding to which class any particular substance belongs. 
Thus, in burning, substances of animal origin always exhale 
a very peculiar odor, that of burnt wool, feathers, sponge, 
&c, an odor easily recognized and not readily forgotten. 
This will always serve to determine whether any particular 
substance, which we examine, is derived from the vegetable 
or animal kingdom. 



12 STRUCTURE OF VEGETABLES. 

Physiologists have freqently busied themselves in endeav- 
oring to discover what it is, which distinguishes precisely 
the two living kingdoms from each other. They have endeav- 
ored in vain, because they have expected to find this dis- 
tinction in one single principle, which would admit of a short, 
plain, and specific definition. Such a principle can be only 
ideal. It does not exist even with regard to the mineral and 
living classes of substances. It would not be difficult to con- 
found the boundaries of living and dead matter, in the same 
way as those of vegetable and animal matter. The distinc- 
tion must be sought in the general structure, the general 
mode of existence, and the purposes of existence in the two- 
And in a few words we may say, that animals differ from 
plants in being furnished with internal organs for the purpose 
of digesting food, instead of absorbing it by roots from the 
earth ; in being furnished with organs which render them 
capable of moving from place to place, or at least of moving 
one part of their bodies on some other part; in having pow- 
ers of sensation, perception, and volition, by which they ac- 
quire a knowledge of the existence and qualities of other 
bodies besides themselves, and form some sort of relation or 
connection with them ; and in being obviously intended, by 
the possession of these organs and powers, to be conscious of 
and to enjoy existence. 



CHAPTER II. 

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE STRUCTURE OF VEGETABLES. 

In considering plants and animals with a view to the de- 
scription of their structure and organs, there is one remarka- 
ble circumstance worthy of attention at first, viz. that — while 
the animal kingdom exhibits a great variety between different 
classes in respect to the perfection, completeness, and com- 
plexity of their structure, and the number of their functions ; 
so that a regular series is formed, ascending from the lowest 
and most imperfect worm possessed of no faculties but those 
of feeling and moving, up to quadrupeds with all their won- 
derful and varied powers — the vegetable kingdom, on the con- 
trary, exhibits but little of this sort of variety. Plants are 
nearly all alike with regard to the organs they possess and 
the functions they perform. On the one hand, the polype 



STRUCTURE OF VEGETABLES. 13 

&nd the elephant do not differ from each other more in size, 
than they do in the number and complexity of their organs, 
and the extent and perfection of their powers and functions. 
Whilst, on the other hand, the humblest moss is scarcely less 
perfect, less complicated, or possessed of less extensive pow- 
ers, than the most lofty tree. Vegetables vary in their form, 
their size, their fruit, and many other particulars ; but we 
cannot say of one, that it is of a higher order in the scale of 
creation than another, as w r e can of animals. There is no 
series beginning at an individual of low and obscure powers, 
and ending in one of powers numerous and elevated. 

The structure of plants is exceedingly simple, and nearly 
alike in all the different classes, so far as they have been ex- 
amined. The important parts, which serve to provide for 
their nourishment and growth, are the root, the stem, and 
the leaves. These are all formed of a variety of vessels and 
tubes, in which the sap and other fluids circulate. The sap 
is in the first place taken into the roots, probably by means 
of the long fibrous filaments which are usually extended in 
every direction, and conveyed into what are called the cen- 
tral vessels. These are so called from their being arranged, 
in annual shoots and herbaceous plants, around the pith or 
centre of the stem. They are constructed of fibres which 
are wound spirally around them, and are thence sometimes 
called the spiral vessels. This arrangement probably con- 
tributes to the motion of the fluids they contain. By these 
vessels the sap is carried up the stem and distributed to the 
different branches, and thence to the leaves, flowers, or fruit. 
In the leaves it circulates, and is there exposed to the influ- 
ence of light, heat, and air; and is no doubt perfected and 
elaborated by the processes which it undergoes. Returning 
from the leaves, it'descends in a different set of vessels situ- 
ated in the bark, and in its descent contributes to the growth 
and nourishment of the plant by depositing new layers of vege- 
table matter between the bark and the wood. 

This is the course of the circulation in annual plants, in 
which there is an entirely new growth every year from the 
root. But in trees and shrubs where the same trunk or stem 
continues from year to year, the arrangement, though essen- 
tially the same, is a little varied. The central vessels are 
not situated directly around the pith, but in the external layer 
of wood called the alburnum, which is always the growth 
of the preceding year, and performs this office only for one 
season, being afterwards surrounded and inclosed by a new 
2 



14 STRUCTURE OF VEGETABLES. 

layer of the same kind. Hence the trunks of trees are 
formed by layers of wood, which have been yearly deposited 
around the centre, and have successively afforded a passage 
for the sap, by means of the central or spiral vessels, to as- 
cend into the branches and leaves. From the leaves the sap 
descends through the vessels of the internal layer of the bark, 
as in the former case, and in its descent gradually contributes 
to the formation of the alburnum for the next year. That 
part of the bark, also, which has thus once served the pur- 
poses of circulation, like the alburnum, is afterwards thrown 
aside, and its place is supplied by a new layer formed on its 
inside between it and the alburnum. Hence the large quan- 
tity of thick and dead bark which is often accumulated upon 
the outside of the trunk and branches of old trees. 

This is a slight sketch of some of the most important points 
in the vegetable circulation. It appears from this, that the 
principal seat of the growth and nutrition of plants is in the 
bark and alburnum, and that all the new matter yearly added, 
is deposited on the outside of the latter and the inside of the 
former — that the growth of one year is only subservient to 
the circulation of the next, and is ever afterwards of use 
merely in giving strength and stability to the trunk, in order to 
support the increasing size and weight of the branches and 
leaves. The wisdom and beauty of this provision, by which 
that portion of the plant, which has become useless for every 
other purpose, is thus made to answer a very important end, 
are sufficiently obvious ; and it is rendered necessary by the 
circumstance that plants do not, like animals, arrive at a defi- 
nite size, and there cease, but go on growing to an indefinite 
extent, and consequently require corresponding increase of 
strength in those parts which are to support them. 

But besides this circulation, which is the most important 
and interesting part of the vegetable economy, and is also the 
best understood, the fluids of plants are no doubt subjected 
in different parts to a variety of operations, and undergo many 
changes. There are many other vessels besides those already 
mentioned, whose office is not perfectly known, but which 
contribute, probably, in some way, to the elaboration of the 
different principles found in plants, such as gum, resin, 
sugar, &,c, or are subservient to the performance of their 
functions. The difficulty of accurately examining the minute 
structure and organization of vegetables is very great, and it 
is provable that we shall always remain ignorant of many 
highly important parts <rf their physiology. 



GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS. 15 

It appears from this account, that those parts of plants, 
which perform the functions necessary to their nutrition and 
growth, are strictly annual. So that all plants are either an- 
nual, that is, wholly renewed every year, or at least have the 
circulating vessels, and all the organs taking an active part 
in their economy, annually renewed, viz. the alburnum, the 
bark, the leaves, the flower, &,c. This circumstance affords 
another very obvious general distinction between the vegeta- 
ble and animal kingdoms; in the latter, nothing of the kind 
is to be observed : there is in no case ^uch a renewal of any 
of the organs of which an animal is composed, — any at least 
of those concerned in performing important functions. It is 
true that some of the subordinate parts, such as the hair, the 
cuticle or scarf skin, the nails, teeth, feathers, &>c, are occa- 
sionally and sometimes annually renewed in certain kinds of 
animals. But there is no change in any of the principal or- 
gans ; the circulating system, the lungs, the stomach, &c, 
always remain the same.* 

The plan of this work does not admit a more full account 
of the structure, functions, and classification of the vegetable 
world ; and we proceed therefore to an examination of the 
animal kingdom. 



CHAPTER III. 

OF THE STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 
SECTION I. 

General Classification of Animals. 

In order to treat clearly of the animal kingdom, it is neces- 
sary to consider it according to some method of arrange- 
ment, by which those animals that most resemble one another 
are connected together for the convenience of description. 
This arrangement is founded upon their form and structure, 



* It may here be observed, that in vegetables there is none of that absorption of the 
different parts which takes place in animals. The matter of which they are com- 
posed, being once deposited, is never taken up again; whilst in animals there is 
a constant process going on, by which the old matter is taken away and new de- 
posited, and the organs thus renewed. Perhaps this end is intended to be answered 
jn vegetables by the annual renewing of their circulating system. 



16 GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS. 

and separates them into various divisions and subdivisions, ac- 
cording to their degree of similarity, and the points in which 
their structures correspond. Such a system of arrangement 
is called a Classification of the Animal Kingdom ; and as an 
accurate acquaintance with the principles on which it is 
founded, is of great assistance to the student of natural his- 
tory, I shall proceed to present a general view of that which 
is most commonly received at the present day.* 

In surveying the series of animals, from the lowest and 
most insignificant worm, up to man, the lord of the creation, 
and examining the structure of their bodies, and the mode in 
which they are enabled to carry on the functions of life, we 
observe certain lines of distinction among them, which afford 
ground for arranging them, in the first place, in two grand 
divisions. Those of the first grand division are possessed of 
an internal skeleton, a system of bones covered by the flesh, 
which serves to give form, support, and strength to their whole 
fabric, and assist in containing the various internal organs, 
whose actions keep up the life and vigor of the system. Those 
of the second are not possessed of any such skeleton, but 
consist of a collection of organs more or less distinct, with- 
out any solid basis, and are generally of a soft, yielding tex- 
ture, though occasionally covered and protected externally 
by a shell or other hard covering. We observe further, that, 
in animals of the first kind, the blood is always red; in those 
of the second kind, it is, with a few exceptions, white. 

In those of the first kind, there is always a bony case, 
called the cranium, or skull, which contains the brain ; and a 
number of bones, called vertebrae, connected together, so as 
to form a long column, usually called the spine, the back- 
bone, or the vertebral column. This column contains a ca- 
nal extending its whole length, which receives the spinal 
nerve or marrow, as it passes out of the skull, and conveys it 
along the trunk, to be from thence distributed to the various 
parts of the body. It is, as it were, the main pillar or com- 
mon support of all the rest of the skeleton ; and hence the 
animals possessed of it are called vertebral animals, as this 
forms the most striking characteristic which is common to 
them all. 

* This system is principally derived from Cuvier. Its general outlines are, I 
believe, almost universallv admitted to be the most accurate and philosophical of 
anv vet proposed. In its details, it has not yet perhaps been so generally received -, 
but I have nevertheless ventured to follow it principally in this work, since there 
can be little question of its superiority, or that it will ultimately supersede those of 
all other naturalists. 



GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS. 17 

In animals of the second kind, there is no skeleton, and of 
course no vertebral column. The brain and nervous system 
are not therefore protected by any bony covering. These 
organs do not resemble the corresponding ones of the verte- 
bral animals ; they are less distinct and apparently less im- 
portant. They have not many common points of resemblance, 
but as they none of them possess a back-bone or a skeleton, 
they are denominated from this circumstance invertebral 
animals, i. e. without vertebras. 

The two first grand divisions of the animal kingdom, then, 
are, 1. vertebral, such as man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, 
&c, having a skeleton and red blood ; and, 2. invertebral, 
such as worms, insects, shell-fish, &,c, having no skeleton 
and white blood. 

But in examining the first division, we find further differ- 
ences. Man, quadrupeds, whales, and birds, have all a tem- 
perature above that of the air or water in which they reside. 
Their flesh is warm, and as this warmth is supposed to depend 
upon the temperature of the blood, we call them warm-blooded. 
On the other hand, frogs, toads, lizards, serpents, and fishes, 
have all a temperature varying but little from that of the air 
or water in which they live. They impart to us, when we 
touch them, the sensation of cold. Hence we call them 
cold-blooded. Here then is afforded ground for a subdivision 
of the vertebral animals into the warm-blooded and the cold- 
blooded. 

Again, the warm-blooded animals are capable of being 
divided into two classes. A part of them produce their young 
alive, nourish them during infancy by their own milk from 
organs called their mammae, or breasts, and are hence called 
mammalia or mammiferous animals. This class includes man, 
quadrupeds, whales, porpoises, &c. Another part produce 
their young by means of eggs which they hatch by the heat 
of their bodies, and support them by food which they pro- 
vide for them as soon as they come out of the egg. This class 
includes birds. 

The cold-blooded vertebral animals also form two classes. 
The first contains those which breathe air only, and cannot 
exist without it, as tortoises, frogs, serpents, &c. These are 
called reptiles. The second contains those which breathe 
by gills or branchiae, through the medium of the water. This 
class includes all the true Jishes; for the cetaceous animals 
mentioned above are not properly to be numbered among 
fishes. 

2* 



18 GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OP ANIMALS. 

The invertebral animals are not capable of so satisfactory 
and accurate an arrangement. Their structure is not yet suf- 
ficiently understood; but they may be divided into five 
classes, according to such circumstances of resemblance as 
the present state of knowledge with regard to them admits. 
These classes are, 1. Insects. 2. Crustacea, as the lobster, 
crab, and craw-fish. 3. Mollusca, as the oyster, the snail, 
the cuttle-fish or squid, the clam, and the quahog. 4. Ver- 
mes or worms, as the earthworm, the leech. 5. Zoophytes, 
as the star-fish, the sea-urchin, the sea-anemone, the sun-fish, 
the polypes, the sponges, and the animalcules. These classes 
will all be more particularly described hereafter. 

The whole animal world then is arranged in two grand 
divisions, and nine distinct classes, as in the following table : — 

I. Vertebral Animals. 

1. Mammalia, ) w , , -, -. 

2. Birds, 5 Wajrm - blooded ' 

tsassr | coid-Mooded. 

II. Invertebral Animals. 

5. Insects. 

6. Crustacea. 

7. Mollusca. 

8. Vermes or Worms. 

9. Zoophytes. 

After these greater divisions into classes, there are several 
smaller divisions, of which it will be useful to give some 
account. 

Classes are subdivided into a greater or less number of 
orders ; and these are distinguished by some important, clear, 
and remarkable peculiarities of conformation and structure, 
which are common to all the animals included under each of 
them. Thus, in the class Mammalia, the order Cluadrumana 
includes those animals which have hands upon all four of 
their extremities, such as monkeys and apes ; the order Ru- 
minantia, those which ruminate or chew the cud; the order 
Carnivora, those adapted to feed principally on animal food 
In the other classes, the divisions are of a similar kind. 

Orders are subdivided into genera. These comprehend 
animals which have a general external resemblance to each 
other, a kind of family likeness. Thus the genus Felis in- 
cludes all those of the cat kind; and these animals, although 
differing one from another very much in size and color, have 
yet a close resemblance in their general form, figure, charac- 



GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS. 19 

ier, and habits of life. The genus Canis includes those of the 
dog kind, the wolf, the fox, the jackal, and the domestic dog, 
of which the same remark may be made. Thus, too, the 
horse, the ass, and the zebra, are of the same genus Equus, 
on account of their obvious general similarity. 

Again, genera are made up of species. Each distinct sort 
of animal constitutes a species, and they are known from one 
another by the size, color, form, and various other circum- 
stances of external appearance. There are then as many 
species as there are sorts of animals. Thus the cat is one 
species, the tiger is another, and the lion, leopard, jaguar, 
and catamount, are also separate species ; but taken together 
with others, they constitute the genus Felis. Thus, too, the 
genus Canis contains the dog, the wolf, the jackal, and the 
fox, which are all so many distinct species. The genus 
Sciurus contains the gray, red, striped, and several other 
kinds of squirrels. In treating of any particular animal, nat- 
uralists are accustomed to designate it by a name derived 
from its genus and species. This name is composed of two 
words ; the first being the name of its genus ; and the second 
being altogether arbitrary, or else expressing some circum- 
stance relating to the color, size, or residence of the animal, 
which serves in a degree to distinguish it from others. The 
first is called its generic, the second its trivial or specific 
name, and they correspond very closely to the names of hu- 
man individuals ; the generic terms answering to the sur- 
name., which designates the family to which any one belongs, 
and the trivial to the Christian name, which designate the 
particular individual. 

To give an example: the different species of the genus 
Felis, above mentioned, are distinguished one from another 
in the following manner. The lion is called Felis leo ; the 
tiger, Felis tigris ; the leopard, Felis leopardus ; the jaguar, 
Felis onca ; the lynx, Felis lynx; the serval, Felis serval, 
&c. In the genus Canis, the dog is called Canis domesticus; 
the wolf, Canis lupus ; the black wolf, Canis lycaon ; the fox, 
Canis vulpes, &c. In this way, each animal is capable of 
being clearly and accurately designated, by a name less lia- 
ble to mistake and confusion than its common one, which is 
sometimes applied to several different species. This is called 
the scientific or systematic name. 

Each sort of animal, then, constitutes a distinct species ; 
a number of species taken together form a genus ; those 
genera, which have important and well defined points of resem- 



20 CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 

blance in structure and conformation, are placed together in 
an order; whilst upon a similar principle, but more exten- 
sive in its application, these orders are marshalled into sepa- 
rate CLASSES. 



SECTION II. 
Class L Mammalia. 

The Mammalia are placed at the head of the animal king- 
dom. It is to this class that man, considered as an object of 
natural history, properly belongs; and beside him, the ani- 
mals of this class are distinguished for a more perfect bodily 
structure, for more varied faculties, more delicate sensations, 
a more elevated intelligence, and greater capability of im- 
provement by imitation and education, than those of any 
other. Man is arranged with them, because he nearly resem- 
bles them in structure and organs, though raised in reality 
far above them by the possession of superior intellectual and 
moral powers. 

There is a very considerable similarity in the anatomical 
conformation of all the animals of this class. The greater 
part of them are intended for motions confined to the surface 
of the earth ; but a few are capable of mounting into the air, 
as the bats; and others are adapted for a life confined to the 
water, as the whales. But notwithstanding these differences 
in their mode of life, their principal organs are nearly similar 
in the general plan of their construction. We shall begin 
therefore by a description of them as they exist in man, and 
afterwards point out such important modifications as exist in 
other animals which differ from him. 

The human body is divided into the head, trunk, and ex- 
tremities. 

The head includes the cranium, or skull, and the face. 
The skull is a large bony cavity, composed of several wide, 
thin, and arched bones, united together by sutures. It con- 
tains the brain . and gives passage to the spinal marrow, 
through a hole situated in its lower part, where it proceeds 
from the brain, and goes to the back-bone. The face is 
formed of the upper and lower jaws, and of the organs of see- 
ing, smelling, and tasting. The bones, which form the basis 
of these organs, are very numerous and difficult to describe ; 
they are united by sutures, and when taken together, give 



STRUCTURE OF MAN. 21 

the general shape and constitute the features of the counte- 
nance. 

The head is placed on the top of the back-bone or ver- 
tebral column, and is capable of a number of motions upon 
it. The back-bone is the main support of the trunk of the 
body, and is composed of twenty-four distinct vertebrae, placed 
one above another, so as to form a kind of pillar or column. 
The body of each vertebra consists of a solid cylindrical 
piece of bone, and this is united firmly to those contiguous 
to it, above and below, by strong and elastic cartilages. The 
body of the vertebra is solid ; but behind it, and on each 
side, are projections of bone, called processes, which are 
arched over and connected together in such a manner as 
to form a canal from one end of the spine to the other. This 
canal contains the spinal nerve or marrow, and between the 
vertebrae are holes, through which branches are sent out to 
the different parts of the body. 

Seven of the vertebrae belong to the neck, twelve to the 
back, and five to the loins. They are called respectively the 
cervical, dorsal, and lumbar vertebrae. They increase in 
size from above, downwards, so that the lumbar vertebrae are 
much larger, thicker, and stronger than those of the back and 
neck. To the dorsal vertebrae are affixed twelve ribs on 
each side, which arch over forwards, and are joined to the 
sternum or breast-bone by means of cartilage or gristle. In 
this way they form the cavity of the thorax or chest, which 
contains the heart and lungs. This cavity is terminated below 
by a muscular membrane, called the diaphragm or midriff, 
which extends from the edges of the lower ribs, and stretches 
across to the back-bone, so as to form a complete curtain or 
division between the chest and the abdomen which lies be- 
low it. This is another important cavity, usually called the 
belly, containing the stomach, liver, spleen, caul, alimentary 
or intestinal canal, kidneys, &c. It is formed below by four 
bones attached to the lower end of the back, which spread 
out and constitute a sort of basin, called the pelvis. This 
serves as a solid basis to support all the heavy organs con- 
tained in the abdomen, which is protected before and at its 
sides only by skin, fat, and muscles, and has no bones, ex- 
cept below and behind. 

The limbs of man and other animals are called their ex 
tremities. The arm, or upper extremity, is composed of the 
shoulder, which has two bones, the collar-bone and shoulder- 
blade, by which it is connected with the trunk ; the arm, 



22 CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 

which has only one bone, long and firm, extending to the el- 
bow ; the fore-arm, which has two long bones, parallel to 
each other, extending from the elbow to the wrist ; the wrist, 
having eight small and irregular bones; and the hand, on 
which there are four fingers, each with four bones, and the 
thumb with three. These bones are united together, so as to 
form movable joints of various degrees of flexibility and 
power, by means of firm substances called ligaments. The 
surfaces which move upon one another, are covered by a 
smooth polished substance that renders all their motions easy 
and free from impediment. 

The lower extremities are constructed in a similar manner. 
The thigh-bone, the largest and strongest bone in the body, 
is connected above with one of the bones of the pelvis, by 
means of a large, round head, which is received into a socket 
of corresponding size, and thus forms the hip-joint. Its lower 
end, together with the knee-pan and one of the two bones 
of the leg, contributes to form the knee-joint. These last are 
parallel to each other, and extend from the knee to the ankle. 
The ankle is composed, like the wrist, of a number of small 
bones, of which there are seven, one of them projecting be- 
hind to form the heel. The toes have the same number of 
bones as the fingers and thumbs, but are shorter and less 
capable of free and extensive motions. 

These different bones are covered by muscles, fat, and skin, 
which constitute the principal soft parts of the body. The 
muscles are fibrous organs, attached to the bones generally 
by tendons, whose contractions put the bones in motion, and 
thus originate all the movements of which we are capable. 
They act, in fact, like cords attached to levers, and operate 
according to strict mechanical principles. 

The organs, by whose operation the digestion of food, the 
circulation of the blood, and the other important functions are 
performed, are contained in the three cavities of the cranium, 
the thorax, and the abdomen, which have been already curso- 
rily described. We proceed to a consideration of these sev- 
eral functions, beginning with that of digestion. 

The food is in the first place taken into the mouth, mixed 
with the saliva, and ground into a kind of paste, by the ac- 
tion of the jaws and teeth. It is then swallowed through a 
long muscular canal, the oesophagus or gullet, which passes 
through the thorax behind the heart and lungs, near the back- 
bone, and is conveyed, through its upper or cardiac orifice, 
into the stomach. This is an irregularly-shaped muscular 



CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 23 

bag or sack, situated in the upper part of the abdomen, at 
the spot usually called the pit of the stomach. «It is capable 
o( great distention or contraction, according to the quantity 
which is put into it. In the stomach, the food is acted on by 
a peculiar fluid, called the gastric juice. It has no remarka- 
ble sensible qualities, and is nearly tasteless and destitute of 
odor ; but its operation upon the substances exposed to its 
influence is very decided and powerful. They are gradually 
reduced, of whatever kind they may be, to one homogeneous 
mass, called chyme, of a grayish color, and of a consistence 
like that of thick cream. This operation being completed, 
the chyme passes out of the stomach, by its lower or pyloric 
orifice, situated towards the right side, into the intestines, 
which form a long canal, and, taken together, are many times 
longer than the body. 

In the intestines, the chyme is subjected to the action of 
the bile and pancreatic juice. The bile, or gall, is a brown- 
colored, viscid, and very bitter fluid, prepared by the liver, 
a large organ on the right side, just beneath the ribs, and col- 
lected into the gall-bladder, where a part of it is reserved for 
use. The pancreatic juice resembles very nearly the saliva 
in color and appearance, and is prepared by the pancreas, 
an organ situated just below the stomach. .The effect of the 
mixture of these two fluids with the chyme, is to separate it 
into two parts. One of these is a thin, milky fluid, called 
chyle; the remainder consists of those portions of the food 
which are not fit for the nourishment of the system, but are 
rejected and thrown out of it, as useless., The chyle is grad- 
ually absorbed by capillary vessels, called the lacteals, which 
open into the intestines through nearly their whole course, 
and convey it into a vessel called the thoracic duct. This 
duct ascends from the abdomen along the back into the tho- 
rax, and there empties its contents into the left subclavian 
vein, the vein coming from the left arm, where the chyle is 
immediately mingled with the mass of blood, and enters with 
it into the circulation. The chyle is nearly the same, from 
whatever substance it is prepared, when the digestion is per- 
fect. Some kinds of food, however, are capable of furnish- 
ing a larger proportion of it than others : this is the case with 
animal food, of which it takes a smaller quantity to supply the 
system with nourishment, than of vegetable. Animal sub- 
stances are also more easy of digestion ; and hence, it is ob- 
served, in those animals which subsist on vegetables, that the 
digestive organs are more various, extensive, and complicated, 



24 CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 

than in those which are carnivorous, as the changes to b<f 
produced in the nature of the aliment are greater. 

The chyle, being mixed with the blood, becomes a part of 
it, although it is not known where or how its change from the 
white to the red color is effected. It is then circulated 
throughout the body, by the heart, the arteries, and the veins. 
The heart is a hollow muscular organ, the main-spring of the 
circulation ; the arteries are long cylindrical canals or pipes, 
carrying the blood from the heart to the different parts of the 
body ; the veins are vessels of a similar form and structure, 
bringing the blood back to the heart, after it has gone the 
round of circulation. 

The heart in man is a double organ ; that is, it consists of 
two complete and distinct organs, united together into one 
mass, but performing their functions without interference ov 
connection. These two parts are called the right and left 
sides of the heart ; and each has two distinct cavities, called 
auricles and ventricles. The right side of the heart receives 
the blood from the body at large, and sends it to the lungs ; 
the left receives it from the lungs, and sends it to the body. 
The heart is of a conical shape, is situated in the thorax, just 
within the sternum, a little inclining to the left side. It is, 
however, placed with the apex, or paint of the cone, extend- 
ing downwards and to the left, so that it touches the ribs at 
the spot where the beating is felt, and hence has usually been 
supposed to lie entirely on the left side. The main body of 
the heart is composed of the two ventricles, which are strong 
muscular cavities, — the left far more so than the right ; the 
auricles are situated around the base of the organ, seeming 
rather to be loose appendages than constituent parts of it. 

We shall begin with the course of the blood at the point 
where it receives its new supply from the chyle. The sub- 
clavian vein, after uniting with the vein from the other arm, 
and the veins coming down from the head and neck, conveys 
its blood immediately to the right auricle, where it meets 
with that brought from the lower parts of the body. The 
two trunks, which bring the venous blood in this way to the 
heart, are called the descending and ascending venae cavae. 
They pour their blood into the right auricle, which contracts 
and expels it, through an opening for that purpose, into the 
right ventricle. This opening is guarded by valves, which 
prevent the flowing back of the blood, by completely closing 
the passage. When the ventricle has become distended,, 
it contracts in its turn, and the blood, being prevented by the 



STRUCTURE OP MAN. 25 

Valves from returning to the auricle, is thrown forward into 
the pulmonary artery, which carries it to the. lungs. This 
passage is also guarded by valves* 

At the time of its passage through the right side of the 
heart, the blood is of a dark bluish red or purple color, ap- 
proaching almost to black* It is generally called black blood, 
and is neither fit for circulation in the vessels, nor for the 
nourishment of the different parts. In this state it is sent to 
the lungs. These fill up all that part of the cavity of the 
chest not occupied by the heart, which they surround almost 
upon all sides. They consist principally of a collection of 
blood and air vessels, and are constantly supplied with air, 
which is drawn in through the windpipe, and distributed to 
every part of them. The blood is circulated, throughout 
their substance, by the branches of the pulmonary artery, 
and is, in its course, exposed to the influence of the air. By 
this means, its color is changed to a bright crimson or ver- 
milion, and it becomes again fit for the purposes of life. 

It is now brought back to the left side of the heart, by the 
pulmonary veins, and passes through the left auricle and ven- 
tricle, in a manner similar to that which has been already 
described with regard to the right side. The left ventricle, 
from its superior size and strength, gives to the blood a more 
powerful impulse ; than that which it receives from the right, 
and this is the more necessary, because it has a wider and 
more extensive course to traverse. From the left ventricle, 
it is thrown into the aorta, the great artery which supplies 
the whole body with blood. This artery ascends from the 
heart for a short distance, arches over, sends branches to the 
head and arms, and then descends behind the heart, and dis- 
tributes them to the other parts of the system. 

The branches thus distributed throughout the body, are 
subdivided again and again to an almost inconceivable degree 
of minuteness, and finally terminate in a system of vessels 
called capillary vessels. These pervade every part, and the 
blood, after passing through them, enters into another set of 
vessels, the veins, which gradually collect together and en- 
large in size, till they terminate, as has been before remarked, 
in two large trunks at the right auricle of the heart. In the 
capillary vessels, the blood undergoes a change in its quali- 
ties, precisely opposite to that which takes place in the lunos. 
It becomes, from a bright red color, of the same dark red 
which it was described to possess upon passing through the 
right side of the heart, in its passage to the lungs. The cause 
3 



26 CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 

of this change is not understood ; but it is presumed to pro- 
ceed from the office which the blood performs in the nutrition 
of the body during its circulation, and by which some of its 
elements are abstracted from it, and combined with the tex- 
ture of the organs. 

The brain, in man, is the grand centre of sensation and per- 
ception. It is the instrument through which the mind main- 
tains its connection with the body; and this connection is ex- 
tended from the brain to the other parts by means of nerves. 
The brain is a large organ, of a peculiar texture, occupying 
the whole of the cavity of the cranium, and consisting of sev- 
eral distinct parts. Several pairs of nerves proceed from it 
through different apertures in the skull, and are distributed 
to the parts about the head, to convey to them the powers of 
sensation and motion. But besides these, there is another 
large single nerve passing down into the canal formed by the 
vertebrae, already described, and supplying the greater part 
of the body and limbs. 

Through the nerves, impressions are transmitted from all 
parts of the body to the brain; and on the other hand, all the 
acts of the will produce an effect upon the different organs 
by their means. The nerves are necessary to the exercise 
of the senses (which in man are five : seeing, hearing, smell- 
ing, tasting, and feeling) ; for, if the nerve going to the organ 
of either of these senses be injured, the mind no longer re- 
ceives any impression from them, as happens in the disease 
of the eye called gutta serena. And if the nerve going to 
any of the limbs be destroyed or obstructed, both sensation 
and power of motion in that limb are either destroyed or sus- 
pended. This happens when a limb, from long-continued 
pressure upon it, is said to be asleep ; as, in sitting for some 
time in one particular position, the nerve going to one of the 
legs is pressed upon, and the connection with the brain being 
thus interrupted, the consequence is a loss of feeling and mo- 
tion, which is sometimes so great as to cause the person af- 
fected to fall down, on attempting to walk. 

The senses, taken altogether, are more perfect in man 
than in any other animal. Yet in each of them, individually, 
he is probably excelled by some particular species. Thus, in 
sight, he is exceeded by the vulture and eagle ; in hearing, 
by the greater number of rapacious quadrupeds; in smell, by 
the dog; in taste, by a great many animals ; and in nicety and 
delicacy of touch and feeling, by most insects. 

The skeleton and the internal organs of other animals, of 



DIVISION INTO ORDERS. 27 

the class Mammalia, exhibit fewer differences from those of 
man, than their external appearance would lead us to ima- 
gine. They are generally of such a nature as to adapt the 
animal for the particular kind of life which he is intended 
to lead, the motions which it is necessary for him to perform, 
and the food upon which he is to support himself. Thus the 
limbs of monkeys are calculated for climbing, those of most 
others for walking on all fours; the fore legs of some animals 
are adapted for free and extensive motions, and furnished 
with claws, that they may seize and secure living prey, as 
in the tiger and the lion ; those of others are limiiSRl and 
confined in this particular, and terminated by hoofs, as the 
deer and horse, being intended to feed upon Vegetable sub- 
stances alone. 

It is upon the consideration of differences of this kind, that 
the division of the animals of this class into orders is founded. 
The structure of an animal is always found to correspond to 
its character, mode of life, and food; and those, therefore, 
which have a similar structure, resemble one another to the 
same extent in other particulars. From the formation of the 
anterior extremities of an animal, we may judge of the degree 
of address of which he is capable, and of the kind of motions 
he is able to perform ; and from the structure of his teeth, 
what is the nature of his food. Thus, the fore feet of animals 
may be either enveloped in hoofs, like those of the horse and 
the ox ; or armed with claws, like those of the lion ; or fur- 
nished with slender nails, like those of man and the ape ; and 
the perfection of the sense of touch will be in proportion to 
the delicacy of these organs respectively. Thus, too, there 
are three kinds of teeth ; the incisory or cutting teeth; the 
canine or dog teeth ; and the molar or grinding teeth ; but 
all animals have not each of these kinds of teeth, nor are they 
of the same shape and formation in all animals. The molar 
teeth, for instance, in the carnivorous animals, are sharp and 
cutting, fit only for the chewing of flesh ; and in the herbivo- 
rous, they are broad, with surfaces adapted for grinding grain, 
or the fibres of vegetables which require more mastication 
than flesh, before they are capable of being digested. 

It is principally from a regard to these parts, that naturalists 
have proceeded in the arrangement of the Mammalia. The 
orders thus formed are nine in number, as follows : — ■ 

1. The Bbnana, or two-handed animals. Man is the only 
example of this order. He has hands upon his superior ex- 
tremities alone, He has nails of a thin and delicate texture, 



28 CLASS I. MAMMALIA. ORDER I. BIMANA. 

which give to his thumb and fingers a wonderful delicacy of 
touch. 

2. The Quadrumana, or four-handed animals, comprising 
apes, monkeys, and baboons. They have hands upon all four 
of their extremities, but less perfect than those of man. 

3. The Carnivora, or carnivorous animals. These have no 
hands, but their feet are furnished with claws. This is a very 
extensive order, and embraces a great variety of animals. 

These three orders have all the three kinds of teeth, which 
differ, however, in shape and strength, according to the habits 
and food of the different species.' 

4. The Rodentia, or gnawers ; so called from the structure 
of their fore teeth, which are particularly adapted for gnaw- 
ing. They have no canine teeth ; and their claws are similar 
to those of the carnivora. This order contains rats, squirrels, 
rabbits, &,c. 

5. The Edentata, or toothless animals ; so called because 
they are deficient always in the incisive teeth, and sometimes 
have no teeth at all. Their toes are terminated by large and 
crooked nails, which obstruct both their sensations and mo- 
tions. The sloth and armadillo are in this order. 

6. The Ruminantia, or ruminating animals, are those which 
chew the cud. They are cloven-footed, and have, moreover, 
no incisive teeth in the upper jaw. Among these are the ox, 
camel, lama, stag, and antelope. 

7. The Pachydermata, or thick-shinned animals. This 
order includes a considerable variety of other animals with 
hoofs, but which do not ruminate ; as the horse, the wild boar, 
the hog, the tapir, and the elephant. 

8. The Cetacea, or animals of the whale kind, distinguished 
by having no posterior extremities, and their anterior so con- 
structed as to answer the purpose of fins. In this order are 
whales, porpoises, and dolphins. 

9. To these may be added the Marsupial animals, wbich 
do not come strictly under either of these orders, and are dis- 
tinguished from all others, by the possession, in the female, of 
a bag or pouch (marsupium) on the outside of the abdomen, 
for the purpose of holding their young after birth. Such are 
the kangaroo and opossum. 

We proceed to give some further account of these different 
orders of the Mammalia. 

I. Bimana. Some writers have affected to believe that 
man was originally intended to be a quadruped ; and that he 
has learned only from long experience the mode of walking 



CLASS I. MAMMALIA. ORDER 1. BIMANA, MAN. 29 

erect, and of applying his hands to the purposes for which 
he now employs them. They* have represented him as only 
a more perfect kind of ape ; and have endeavored to collect 
stories of wild men, who have been found living like beasts in 
the midst of forests, destitute of speech and the arts of life ; 
and of races of apes and monkeys who can walk erect, and 
imitate the manners, gestures, and mode of life of men ; thus 
endeavoring to prove a near connection and relationship be- 
tween man and these animals. 

It is undoubtedly the case, that man, in his external form, 
resembles this order of animals much more nearly than any 
Other ; but he is yet by no means more nearly allied to them 
in this respect, than they are to some others, which are yet 
always considered of a distinct kind. The fact is, that since 
the animal kingdom forms a series of individuals rising, by a 
regular gradation, from a very humble and imperfect struc- 
ture, up to a very perfect one, there will necessarily be cer- 
tain points of resemblance between those which stand nearest 
to each other in this series. Hence the apes, which stand 
nearest to man, resemble him more than any other animal 
does, but not so much as many other animals resemble them. 
There is a greater difference between man and those species 
which are next below him, than there is between any other 
two species, which rank next to each other in the whole ani- 
mal kingdom. So that there is, in truth, no more reason for 
saying that man is only an improved and educated ape, than 
there is for saying thai a bee is only an improved and educated 
fly, a cow an improved sheep, or a horse a perfected ass. 

Man is distinguished from all other animals of the class 

Mammalia, by his erect attitude, and his power of walking 

upon two legs. This is naturally the case with no other one. 

Some are capable of being taught to walk upon their hind 

legs ; but they never do it with ease or from choice. The ape 

and monkey have, it is true, hands, very like those of the 

human species, which they are capable of using with great 

address and effect ; but then they have not feet or legs which 

enable them to walk upright : their feet are, in fact, formed 

like hands, having a palm, and a distinct thumb, opposed to 

the four fingers, and thus are able to grasp objects. The foot 

of man is very different. It has nothing which does the office 

of a thumb, and the sole does not perform that of a palm. It 

is flat, inflexible, and fit only for the purpose of walking. 

Apes, on the contrary, are adapted for climbing; and hence 

the peculiarity of their structure, which enables them to grasp 
3* 



30 CLASS I. MAMMALIA, ORDER I. BIMANA. 

the small branches of trees with their feet as well as their 
hands. Strictly speaking, then, these tribes are principally 
distinguished from man by having four hands instead of two; 
and hence man is called a two-handed or bimanous animal ; 
and apes, monkeys, and baboons, four-handed or quadruma- 
nous animals. This alone would be a sufficient distinction ; 
but there are many others founded upon a variety of consid- 
erations, derived from the general structure of man. His head 
is larger and his face smaller, in proportion to his size, than 
those of the monkey. His eyes, his ears, in short, all his senses, 
are adapted to the erect position. He is incapable of going 
upon all fours with any facility, his lower extremities being 
so long as to render the posture of his head painful and even 
dangerous. 

The structure of man, and his faculties of mind, give him 
great advantages over other animals in point of adroitness, 
skill, and address. His erect position gives him the free use 
of his hands, which, though they have a general similarity to 
those of the monkey, are yet far more delicately and perfectly 
constructed. The thumb is larger ; the fingers, all except the 
ring-finger, have distinct motions ; the nails present excellent 
points of support, so as to admit of the handling of very small 
bodies ; and the arms have unencumbered and various motions 
in every direction. Still he is inferior, in point of strength, 
to most animals of his size : he is slow in running, is without 
natural means of defence, and has no natural covering. So 
that man, who, in the social state, is the lord of this lower 
world, the conqueror of the rest of creation, is, by nature and 
when alone, the weakest, the most helpless, and the most de- 
fenceless of all animals. 

There are several distinct races of mankind inhabiting dif- 
ferent portions of the earth, which differ one from another 
more or less in form, in features, in complexion, and in char- 
acter. The cause of these varieties have never been satisfac- 
torily pointed out. They have been attributed to climate, to 
situation, to manner of life, &c. ; but none of these circum- 
stances appear sufficient to produce them, and we therefore 
still remain in ignorance on the subject. These distinct races 
may be considered as five in number. 1. The Caucasian. 
2. The Mongolian or Tartar. 3. The American. 4, The 
Negro or African. 5. The Malay. 

1. The Caucasian. The individuals of this variety are dis 
tinguished by the beautiful oval form of their heads ; a large 
and full forehead ; regular and distinct features of the face, 



NATURAL HISTORY 01? MAN. 31 

which is small and narrow in proportion to the cranium ; a 
white skin, varying from a light rosy tint to a deep brown; 
and hair and eyes of various colors. This race is called 
Caucasian, because its origin is referred, by tradition, to the 
group of mountains lying between the Black and Caspian seas, 
among which Caucasus has been celebrated. From thence it 
has spread itself over a considerable part of the known world. 
The inhabitants of Caucasus itself, the Georgians and Circas- 
sians, are to this day considered as the most beautiful speci- 
mens of the human form. In the ancient world, the most 
celebrated nations belonged to this race. The Assyrians, the 
Chaldeans, the Phoenicians, the Jews, probably the Egyptians, 
the Persians, the Scythians, the Parthians, the Greeks, the 
Romans, &c, were of Caucasian origin. In modern times, 
nearly all the nations that inhabit the western part of Asia, 
nearly all the nations of Europe, and the descendants of Eu- 
ropeans in America and other parts of the world, are of the 
same race. 

They have been always distinguished for superior intel- 
lectual and moral qualities. With a few exceptions, they have 
maintained a decided ascendency in arms over the people of 
the other races, and have acquired a superiority over them in 
the elegances, refinements, and luxuries of life. They have 
been for ages the depositaries of literature, philosophy, science, 
and the arts, and have carried the human character to the 
highest degree of excellence it has ever reached. All that is 
beautiful and enchanting in poetry and the fine arts, all that 
is sublime and awful in religion, have belonged to them. 

2. The Mongolian race is principally found in the eastern 
parts of Asia. It is distinguished by a low stature, by pro- 
jecting cheek bones; a depressed and retreating forehead; 
features not strongly marked ; eyes narrow and oblique ; a 
nose somewhat broad and flat ; thick lips ; black, straight 
hair ; thin beard ; and an olive complexion. In this division 
are to be arranged the inhabitants of the great empires of 
China and Japan ; the hordes of Calmucks, of Mongols, &c. ; 
the ancient Huns ; the Finnish tribes of Northern Europe, as 
the Laplanders ; the Kamtschadales ; the Esquimaux Indians 
inhabiting the northern parts of America ; and a number of 
other nations and tribes of less note. 

The individuals of this race are inferior in moral and intel 
lectual qualities to those of the preceding. They have made 
but slight progress in civilization or literature, and have gen 
erally remained in a semi-barbarous state. Occasionally they 



32 CLASS I. MAMMALIA. ORDER I. BIMANA, 

have manifested great vigor and energy in military exploits; 
and three times have carried the terror of their arms over the 
greater part of Asia, and even into Europe, under Attila, 
Zenghis Khan, and Tamerlane. Their victories have gener- 
ally, however, been of short duration, as they have not the 
qualities suited to retain and govern the empires they conquer, 

3. The African, or Negro, is remarkable for his narrow and 
depressed forehead ; his flat and broad nose ; his thick lips ; 
his projecting jaws ; black, crisped, and curled hair or wool ; 
black skin and eyes; and some other differences in bodily 
shape, which it is not necessary to enumerate. These char- 
acteristics are confined to Africans, and their descendants in 
different parts of the world. The individuals belonging to 
this race have seldom been distinguished for their mental fac- 
ulties or moral endowments. They have always remained in 
a barbarous state, and are with difficulty induced to adopt the 
customs and habits of civilized life. 

4. The American race resembles, in many respects, the 
Mongolian ; but differs from it in having more distinct and 
strongly-marked features, and a skin of a copper tint. All the 
native inhabitants of the new world, with the exception of the 
Esquimaux, come into this division. In general, they have 
made small advances in civilization and the arts, and prefer 
the wandering life of hunters to the comforts of settled hab- 
itations. In the empires of Mexico and Peru, was exhibited 
the highest pitch of refinement, to which they have ever 
arrived. 

5. In the division called the Malay, are included nations 
differing very much one from another, in form, features, and 
character, and too imperfectly known to admit of being clearly 
described. Some of them, as the inhabitants of New Holland 
and Van Diemen's land, resemble very nearly the African 
race ; whilst others, as the inhabitants of Malacca and Suma- 
tra, and also those of the islands in the Pacific ocean, approach 
sometimes the Caucasian, and sometimes the Mongolian. 

But notwithstanding all these differences in man, he main- 
tains every where a decided rank, far above that of any other 
animal. He is the only one which has the power of commu- 
nicating its thoughts and feelings by articulate speech; the 
only one which can properly be said to avail itself of the 
advantages of society ; and the only one that, strictly speaking, 
educates its young. It is in consequence of these advantages, 
particularly that derived from association, that he has been 
enabled, under all circumstances, to acquire and preserve a 



NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN. 33 

dominion over other animals, either by subjecting them to his 
use, or at least making himself the object of thejr fear. It is 
in consequence of these advantages, also, that he has been 
enabled to protect himself against the severity of climates, 
and thus spread his species over every part of the earth. 
Naturally tender and defenceless, he could only exist in the 
most equable and temperate climates ; but, aided by the inven- 
tions and discoveries of social life, he is enabled to brave the 
cold of the polar circle, as well as the overpowering heat of 
the regions on the equator, 

Man is only partially governed by instinct. His knowledge 
is the result of education and experience. He knows nothing 
but what he has discovered himself, or what has been taught 
him by others. By means of language and writing, the dis- 
coveries and improvements of one generation are transmitted 
to the next, and thus are the ground of an almost indefinite 
progress towards perfection. Other animals, being principally 
governed by instinct, are stationary ; they neither advance 
nor recede in their manners or habits ; by being associated 
one w T ith another, they do not improve ; and, although capa- 
ble of being educated by man, they do not educate one another. 
The first swarm of bees that existed, probably constructed as 
perfect a honey-comb as is done now : they do not improve 
upon the plan w r hich instinct has pointed out to them ; it is a 
plan which they did not in the first place contrive, and cannot 
amend. But if we compare the rude and ill-constructed hab- 
itations of savage nations with the splendid and luxurious 
edifices of civilized life, we instantly perceive the influence 
which language, society, and education have had upon the 
human race. We are sensible of the great difference between 
that skill, which is the result of instinct, and that which is 
acquired by a being capable of reasoning and speaking. 

Being thus susceptible of constant progress in improvement, 
man is found under different circumstances in different stages 
of this progress. In his primitive state, he supports him- 
self upon the flesh of animals, which he destroys in the chase, 
or upon the wild fruits of the forest. He has not, therefore, 
time to devote to the cultivation of the arts, or to the educa- 
tion of his children ; he learns nothing but how to construct 
his hut and his canoe ; he clothes himself with the skins of 
wild beasts ; and he observes the natural objects around him 
so far only as he can make them subservient to his purposes. 
When he comes into the possession of the domestic animals, 
the cow, the horse, the sheeo, &>c, he finds that he can 



34 CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 

derive an easier and less precarious subsistence from their 
milk and flesh, than from the products of the chase. He | 
rears, therefore, numerous herds of these animals, and being 
only occupied in finding them pasturage and shelter, is com- I 
paratively at leisure to apply himself to some of the arts of 
civilized life. He manufactures clothing from their skins and I 
wool, of various degrees of delicacy and elegance. He builds 
himself more commodious habitations; and from the different 
degrees of industry and skill, with which different individuals j 
apply themselves to these occupations, arises an inequality of -j 
conditions. Some become rich, and others comparatively I 
poor. The rich acquire a disposition to indulge in the com- 
forts and luxuries of life, and this is found to be inconsistent ! 
with the wandering and unsettled life which they lead as mere 
shepherds. Hence they are induced to fix themselves perma- i 
nently upon particular tracts of country, which come to be con- \ 
sidered as their property ; and thus they gradually devote them- 
selves to the cultivation of the soil. This enables a given 
portion of land to support a much greater number of people; I 
than when it was devoted to the feeding of herds ; and, hence, I 
as agriculture becomes established, the population of a coun- 
try regularly increases. Society also becomes settled and i 
permanent. Every individual is able to produce more by his 
own labor, than is sufficient for his own support, and some [ 
therefore devote themselves to other occupations, the results of » 
which they exchange with the laborer for his surplus. Nations 
also exchange with one another their superfluities. Thus com- I 
merce is established ; and the arts and elegancies of life are 
one by one brought to light, as the growing wealth of indi- i 
viduals and nations creates a demand for them. 

II. The Quadrumana, as has been before observed, 
approach more nearly to man, both in their internal structure 
and external form, than any other animal. They differ, how- - 
ever, in the size and shape of the head, which is proportion- 1 
ably smaller, narrower, and less elevated ; in the conforma- 
tion of the face, which has a flat, depressed nose, and very »i 
prominent jaws and teeth ; in the length of the fore-arm : i 
and in the construction of the lower extremities, which are 
not calculated for the erect posture, and are furnished with 
hands, instead of feet like those of men. Their structure fits - 
them evidently for climbing, and their usual places of habita- 
tion are trees, on the fruits of which they feed. They main- 
tain the erect position with difficulty ; it is a constrained one, 
since it obliges them to straighten the joints of the hip more 



OHDER II. UtTADilXJMANA, 35 

than is easy or natural, and to rest their weight upon the outer 
edges of their feet or hind hands. Generally, then, they 
employ all four of their limbs in walking or 'running; but 
their motions, when upon the ground, are very various and 
irregular. 

They form a numerous tribe, and comprehend a great 
variety of species, known under the name of apes, monkeys, 
baboons, &.-C-, These aames are generally employed with little 
discrimination, but they are intended to point out some 
general differences of form. Thus, the apes are destitute of 
a tail ; that of the monkeys is about the length of their bodies ; 
and that of the baboons a very short one. Besides these, 
which are confined to the old continent, the sapajous, which 
include those belonging to the new world, have all long tails ; 
and these are, in many instances, of so much strength, as to 
answer in some measure the purpose of a fifth limb, enabling 
the animal to grasp with it the branches of trees or other 
objects, to assist in climbing. These are called prehensile 
tails. The ourang-outang and chimpanze are the most cele- 
brated of this order, for their similarity in face and form to 
the human race ; whilst many other species, by their elongated 
snout, depressed forehead, and other particulars, approach 
more nearly to other quadrupeds. 

The Ourang-outang, or wild man of the woods, which is 
the meaning of the name in the Malay language, is found 
only in some Eastern climates, and has seldom been seen in 
Europe; although many other animals have been exhibited 
under this name. He is a native of Malacca and Cochin 
China, but is principally found in the great island of Borneo, 
in the East Indies. He is from three to four feet in height ; 
his body covered with a thick red hair ; his forehead high and 
full ; and his face of a bluish color. He is mild and docile, 
is easily tamed, and becomes attached to those about him. 
He is able, in consequence of his bodily form and organs, to 
imitate very accurately a great variety of human actions; but 
is, on the whole, not more remarkable for sagacity and intel- 
ligence than the dog. 

The Chimpanze is a larger animal, and has been said by 
travellers to equal or exceed the size of man. This, how- 
ever, is not well authenticated. His body is covered with 
black or brown hairs. He can be taught to walk, to sit, and 
to eat like men. He is a native of Congo and Guinea, lives 
with his fellows in troops, and by means of clubs and stones, 
repels the attacks of man and other animals. It has been 



86 CLASS I, MAMMALIA. 

said that he constructs for himself a hut with the foliage and 
branches of trees; but he probably does little more than pro- 
vide, in this way, a very rude shelter for himself against rain 
and storms. 

The Pongo is probably the largest of the animals of this 
order, and is a formidable and ferocious creature* He inhabits 
the island of Borneo, and is, from the structure of his poste- 
rior limbs, as well able to support himself in the erect posture, 
as the ourang-outang or chimpanze. His history has been 
confounded with that of those animals, and his character and 
many of his habits have been attributed to them. 

But he is, in fact, very different in some important particu- 
lars, as the shape of his head approaches that of quadrupeds, . 
and his muzzle or snout is very long and projecting. 

One of the most remarkable species among the baboons, is 
the great gray baboon, inhabiting Arabia and some parts of 
Africa. He is more than five feet in height, and is very fero- 
cious. His head and shoulders are covered with a long 
growth of gray hair, which has the appearance of a large full- 
bottomed periwig, and, combined with the gravity of his coun- 
tenance, gives him a singular and grotesque appearance. He 
is called, by the French naturalists, Papion a perruque. 

A few of the American monkeys, or Sapajous, are furnished 
with a pouch or bladder connected with the wind-pipe, 
which gives to their voice an enormous volume and a tremen- 
dous tone. They are called, from this circumstance, Howler 
monkeys. 

Some of the smaller and more inoffensive species of the [ 
Quadrumana are play ful, peaceable, and amusing little animals ; 
but in general they are a noisy, chattering, mischievous race, 
whose distorted resemblance to the human face and figure 
only renders them hideous and disgusting. 

IIL Carnivora. This order includes a great number and 
a great variety of animals. They are furnished with the 
three kinds of teeth, but these differ more or less in shape 
from those of man and the monkeys, so as to be adapted for 
the mastication of animal food, upon which they subsist, 
either in part or altogether. They are subdivided into several 
tribes or families, accordingly as they are more or less carniv- 
orous. In some of these tribes the molares are very sharp 
and cutting, and thus indicate that the animal feeds entirely 
upon flesh ; in others, they are broader, being adapted partly 
for the mastication of vegetable food ; and in others, they 
are armed with a number of points or cones, which are fitted for 



ORDER III. CARNIVORA* 37 

a diet consisting principally of insects. Their fore legs are 
capable of pretty free and extensive motions, and are furnished 
with nails or claws, bat no thumb ; whence they are far in- 
ferior in point of address to the apes. They are remarkable 
for possessing the sense of smell to a high degree of perfec- 
tion. Their organs of digestion are in general less com- 
plicated and extensive than those of other animals. The 
stomach is smaller, and the intestines shorter; animal food 
requiring less change than vegetable in order to convert it 
into chyle. 

1. The first tribe, or family, is that of the Bats. These 
have some points of affinity with the Quadrumana, and were 
arranged by Linnseus with man and the monkeys, They are 
sufficiently distinguished, however, by their wings. These 
are formed of a thin fold of skin, which extends between the 
two limbs of the same side, and is likewise stretched across 
the claws of the fore feet, which are very long and slender, 
and serve to keep the membrane extended like the sticks of 
an umbreila. By means of this apparatus, many of them are 
enabled to fly with a force and rapidity equal to that of birds ; 
but, in others, it answers only the purpose of a parachute to 
break their fall from lofty places, or to enable them to per- 
form great leaps in their passage from tree to tree. They 
are principally nocturnal animals, seeking their prey (which 
consist of insects, small quadrupeds or birds, and flesh of any 
kind) in the twilight, and retiring during the day to dark and 
hidden recesses, where they remain suspended by their claws, 
till the return of night. 

Their eyes are extremely small, and apparently of little use ; 
but the cavities of their ears are extensive. They possess the 
singular faculty of directing their flight with great accuracy 
and precision, without the assistance of the sense of sight, 
and even after their eyes have been destroyed. It has been 
found that, after the complete removal of the eyeball, bats 
are able to fly about in a room without touching the walls, 
apparently with as much ease and security as before. What 
is still more remarkable, when several w r ilIow rods are placed 
six inches distant from each other, so as to form a sort of 
grating, the bats, after the destruction of their eyes, are able 
to pass backward and forward through the spaces without ever 
coming in contact with the rods. It is difficult to give any 
satisfactory account of this phenomenon, and yet the experi- 
ments from which the knowledge of it has been derived, are 
well authenticated, and have been frequently repeated. It 
4 



38 CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 

has been attributed to the great extent and uncommon deli- 
cacy of the membrane constituting the wings, and of that 
lining the ear, which have been supposed to render the animal 
capable of judging, from the impressions made upon it by the 
air, of the relative distances and positions of external objects. 

Bats retire upon the approach of cold weather in the autumn, 
and pass the winter in a dormant state. They frequently 
suspend themselves together in large clusters, that by their 
warmth they may reciprocally assist each other in resisting the 
effects of the cold. During this period, the powers of life 
seem to be almost extinct, the temperature of the animal is 
much lowered, and he becomes lean and exhausted ; so that 
he awakens in the spring in a state of great weakness and 
emaciation, although in the autumn he may have been very fat. 

Beside the common bat, with the appearance of which all 
are familiar, there are many others, differing a good deal in 
size and disposition, which inhabit other countries. Among 
them is the Vampyre bat, which is from five inches to a foot 
in length, and has membranous wings extending from four to 
six feet. It inhabits Africa and Asia, but is found most abun- 
dantly in the East Indian islands. It is very gregarious, and 
is found in immense flocks. Five hundred have been counted 
hanging on a single tree. It does not confine itself to* animal 
food, but subsists also upon fruits and vegetables, and is the 
cause of great injury to the produce of the countries it in- 
habits. It has been supposed to suck the blood of persons 
lying asleep, by making an orifice in some exposed vein, which 
it does so easily as not to awaken the sleeper, to the sound- 
ness of whose slumbers it contributes by fanning him gently 
with its wings. Hence this animal has received the name 
Vampyre, and is thought to have given origin to the ancient 
fable of the Harpies. It is said to be excellent food. 

The Spectre bat is a species very similar in its habits to the 
one just described. It is a smaller animal, not exceeding 
seven inches in the length of its body, and two feet in the 
extent of the membrane of its wings. It is an inhabitant of 
South America and New Holland, and exists in immense 
numbers. It has the same propensity for drawing blood as 
the Vampyre, and is said to cause great injury and destruc- 
tion among cattle by this means. In New Holland, twenty 
thousand have been computed to be seen within the compass 
of a mile. It is of a mild disposition, and is easily tamed and 
domesticated. 

2. The second tribe of this order includes a number of 



ORDER III. CARNIVORA. 39 

small animals, which feed principally upon insects, and are 
called insectivorous. Many of them pass the winter in a state 
of lethargy, and during summer they lead a secluded, noctur- 
nal, or subterranean life. Their limbs are short, and their 
motions very feeble. Among the most worthy of notice are 
the hedgehog, the tenrec, the shrew-mouse, and the mole. 

The Hedgehog is remarkable for being covered with short, 
strong spines instead of hairs, and for the faculty of drawing 
its head and feet in such a manner under its belly, as to give 
itself the appearance of a ball covered with sharp bristles. 
In this way it resists the attacks made upon it, using no other 
method of defence ; and no violence will induce it to alter its 
form or position. It is a harmless and inoffensive animal, and 
suffers injuries of all kinds with great patience and forbear- 
ance. It is about nine or ten inches in length, inhabits holes 
and decayed trees, into which it retreats in order to pass the 
winter. Its skin was used by the ancients for a clothes-brush, 
and has been sometimes employed for the purpose of dressing 
hemp. 

The Moles are peculiarly adapted, by the structure of their 
nose and feet, for burrowing in the earth. This operation 
they perform with great facility and rapidity. So expert are 
they, that if put upon the grass where the earth is soft, they 
force their way into it almost immediately ; and even upon a 
hard, gravelly road, they can cover themselves in the course 
of a few minutes. They feed principally upon the earth- 
worm, and prefer the soil in which it is to be found in greatest 
abundance for their residence. They construct habitations 
of a peculiar form, to be hereafter described, in which they 
rear their young, and lead a social and domestic life. They 
sometimes increase in number to such an extent, as to be a 
serious annoyance to the husbandman. 

3. The animals of the third tribe possess the characteris- 
tics of this order in the highest degree. They are endowed 
not only with an appetite for animal food, and a structure 
adapted for its mastication and digestion, but with strength 
and courage for seizing and retaining it. They are not all, 
however, purely carnivorous, nor equally ferocious. Some 
are slow and indolent in their motions, and clumsy in their 
forms, passing the winter in cold climates in a state of lethargy, 
and being capable of subsisting in a great measure upon vege- 
table food. Such are the bear, glutton, and badger. There 
are others, as the weasel, the ermine, the ferret, and the pole- 
cat, mean in size and appearance, and of a long, lean body, 



40 CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 

with very short legs, enabling them to creep through very 
narrow apertures. They are small and feeble, but still ex- 
tremely cruel. Others again, as the dog, the wolf, the fox, 
and the jackal, are possessed of a good deal of strength, but 
do not exhibit a proportionate degree of courage and ferocity. 
But the lion, tiger, panther, &e., are at once the most power- 
ful, the most bloody, and the most ferocious of the animal 
kingdom. Their fore paws are endowed with prodigious 
muscular power, and are armed with sharp and piercing nails, 
which, in a state of rest, are drawn in and concealed from 
sight. They are the terror of the forest, feed only upon flesh 
and blood, and sometimes, when driven by hunger, attack 
even man himself. 

The Dog, so well known to all mankind, presents a great 
variety of shape, size, and color, according to the different 
breeds produced by the different situations in which he has 
been placed. No animal is so completely under the control 
of mankind. Every individual of the species gives himself up 
wholly to his master, obeys his voice, acquires his habits, de- 
fends his property, and, even in spite of caprice and ill usage, 
remains faithful till death. This connection, this attachment, 
does not proceed so much from necessity, as from a true sen- 
timent of friendship. The dog is the only animal which has 
accompanied man to every part of the earth, and forms his 
most useful ally, particularly in the early stages of society, in 
bringing into subjection the inhabitants of the forest. It has 
been supposed by some, that the dog was originally the same 
with the wolf, and by others, that he is a jackal in a domestic 
state. But the origin of his connection with man is too re- 
mote and obscure to allow this question to be determined. 

The animals of the Cat kind are all of a fierce and bloody 
disposition ; some are remarkable for the majesty and ele- 
gance of their form, or the beauty of their skin. The lion 
and the tiger are the two most celebrated species. 

The Lion is a native of Asia and Africa; and is found some- 
times of the length of eight or nine feet, exclusively of the 
tail. His appearance is majestic and dignified ; and, although 
entirely carnivorous, he is not remarkable for cruelty or the 
unnecessary destruction of life, but has been often noted for 
striking traits of generosity and magnanimity. His muscular 
strength is immense ; a single stroke of his paw is sufficient 
to destroy some of the larger animals on which he preys ; a 
sweep of his tail will knock down a man ; and he is able to 
carry off an ox, or even a buffalo, when lightened of its en- 



ORDER III. CARNIVORA. 41 

trails, with apparent ease. In populous countries, where he 
is accustomed to the sight and acquainted with the power of 
man, he is comparatively timid, and will sometimes even fly 
before women or children ; but in those where he is undis- 
turbed in his dominion of the forest, he defies man as well as 
all other animals, and has been known singly to attack a whole 
caravan. The lion, when taken young, is capable of being 
tamed ; and, in a state of confinement, has lived to the age of 
seventy years. 

The Royal Tiger is an inhabitant of the warmer parts of 
Asia and the Indian islands. He attains to nearly the size of 
the lion, and is of equal strength, but far more bloody and 
cruel. He is the scourge of the countries which he infests, 
and has sometimes almost depopulated whole villages. Such 
is his vigor and the rapidity of all his motions, that he has 
been known, when lurking around an army on the march, to 
spring from a thicket upon a soldier, tear him from his horse, 
and convey him into the forest without being molested. When 
he has seized a large animal, if uninterrupted, he plunges his 
head into the midst of the carcass, and sucks the blood. He 
is not so easily or completely tamed as the lion ; but if taken 
young, is susceptible of a certain degree of domestication. 

4. A fourth tribe of the Carnivora comprehends the am- 
phibious animals, as the Seal and the Morse. They differ 
from other quadrupeds very widely in their external appear- 
ance, whilst their internal structure is very nearly the same. 
Their limbs are composed of a similar number of bones, ar- 
ranged in the same way, but so short and so enveloped by 
their skin, as to be of but little use for walking. But as the 
intervals between the toes are so filled up with skin, they 
form excellent oars; so that these animals move with great 
rapidity and address in the water, although they can only 
crawl awkwardly upon land. They feed principally upon 
fish ; and the structure of their teeth is manifestly that of 
carnivorous animals. They live almost entirely in the sea, 
and come upon shore only for the purpose of reposing in the 
sun and suckling their young. They breathe, however, like 
other Mammalia ; and hence cannot constantly remain under 
water, but are obliged to return occasionally to the surface 
for air. Still they are able to live a long time without breath- 
ing ; and it has been asserted that there is some peculiar con- 
formation about their heart, which renders this possible. But 
no such peculiarity is found to exist. 

The Seals are mild and inoffensive, except when provoked. 



42 CLASS 1. MAMMALIA, ORDER IV. RODENTlA, 

They are easily tamed, and become attached to those who 
feed them. Their head somewhat resembles that of the dog, 
They live together in large herds or families, and are valua- 
ble as objects of trade on account of their skins and oil. 

IV. Roderitia, the Gnawers, are distinguished by the pos- 
session of two large incisive teeth in the centre of each jaw, 
and by the absence of canine teeth. There is a wide space 
between the incisors and the molares, which last are broad, 
and evidently calculated for the mastication of vegetable 
food. This arrangement of their teeth remarkably qualifies 
them for gnawing, and enables them to penetrate very solid 
substances ; and frequently they feed upon woody fibres and 
the bark of roots and trees. There is an additional circum- 
stance in the structure of their incisive teeth, which adapts 
them to the use for which they are intended. They are fur- 
nished with enamel only upon their front surface, so that 
the back part, being merely bone, is by gnawing worn away 
faster than that in front, and of course the front edge is kept 
sharp and fit for cutting. To remedy the loss of substance 
which necessarily takes place, there is a provision by which 
a constant growth takes place from the root ; so that if one 
of these teeth is lost by accident, that which corresponds to 
it in the opposite jaw, being no longer worn away by use, in- 
creases to a great length. Their feet are furnished with toes 
and nails, and their hind legs are stronger and longer than 
their fore legs ; so that frequently they leap better than they 
run. Of this order, among others, are the beaver, the squir- 
rel, the dormouse, the marmot, the hamster, the mouse and 
rat, the jerboa, the various species of hare and rabbit, and the 
porcupine. 

The Beavers (Castor fiber) have been long celebrated for 
the value of their skins as an article of commerce, and for the 
wonderful sagacity and forethought which they exhibit in the 
construction of their dwellings. Their cutting teeth are 
very strong and sharp, and they are able, with them, to fell 
lofty trees.* 1 They are possessed of a large, long, and broad 



* In felling a tree, several beavers are engaged at once around its trunk, and they 
gnaw it carefully in such a part of the circumference, as will cause it to fall in a 
direction convenient for their purposes. An observer of them relates, that he wit- 
nessed three beavers occupied in cutting round a tree ; that, after a certain period, 
one of them left the two others, and went to a considerable distance, where he 
quietly watched their operations ; and that, when the trunk was nearly divided, so 
that the weight of the branches was sufficient to bring down the tree, and the in- 
clination was obvious on looking at its summit, he gave a smart stroke with his 
tail upon the water, as a signal to his companions, who immediately ran off with 
great expedition to escape the impending danger. — Long's Expedition. 



ORDER IV. RODENTIA. 43 

tail, almost oval in its shape, and covered with scales. It 
has been supposed that they used this as a kind of trowel, to 
lay on the mud and clay of which their dikes are partly built. 
But it has also been sometimes asserted that the tail was only 
of use as an instrument for swimming. They are aquatic 
animals, and construct themselves habitations upon waters 
which are sufficiently deep never to be frozen to the bottom, 
preferring running streams upon which the trees they cut 
can float down to whatever spot they have chosen. Here 
they build a dam for the purpose of preserving the water 
always of a convenient depth, and construct their huts or 
cabins. Of their skill, sagacity, and intelligence, a more par- 
ticular account will be given hereafter. But, although so 
wonderful in these respects when united in a society, they 
are, for the most part, helpless and timorous animals when 
living separately ; a beaver, although pretty large and strong, 
and armed with powerful teeth, if he meets a man alone upon 
the shore, sets himself down upon his haunches, and cries 
like a child. 

The Jerboa is a little animal of about the size of a rat, with 
a tail ten inches long, and legs of very unequal size, the hind 
legs being six inches, whilst the fore legs are but one inch in 
length. It cannot of course use them all at once without 
great difficulty, and moves principally by leaps, which are 
sometimes of five or six feet in extent, or by a hopping motion 
on its two hind legs, which resembles that of birds. Its fore 
legs it employs only as hands for the purpose of holding its 
food. It has been asserted that the ancient cony, mentioned 
in the Old Testament, was the jerboa, which inhabits Pales- 
tine to this day. 

There is an American species called the Canadian Jerboa, 
which does not exceed two and a half or three inches in length. 
It has the same general characteristics as the animal before 
mentioned, and even exceeds it in the length of its leaps, 
which extend, if we may credit the accounts given of them, 
to the enormous distance of three or four yards, or nearly fiftv 
times the length of its body. 

The Hamster is an animal larger and thicker than the Jer- 
boa, and nearly allied to the common rat. It is distinguished 
by cheek pouches, which are capable of containing a very 
large quantity of food. When empty, they are so contracted 
as not to appear externally visible ; but when filled, they are 
stretched to an enormous extent, and are capable of contain- 
ing a gill of grain. A hamster has been caught and dissected. 



44 CLASS I. MAMMALIA. ORDER V, EDENTATA, 

that had stored in its pouches a quantity of beans, which., 
when taken out and laid in a heap, appeared to exceed the 
bulk of its whole body. The Canada rat is almost equally 
remarkable for the size of these receptacles. 

Of the Alpine Marmot some account will be given here- 
after* There is another species, however, which deserves a 
short notice. This is the Louisiana Marmot, usually known 
by the name of the prairie dog, from a slight resemblance of 
its cry to the barking of a small dog. It is a sprightly and 
interesting little animal, inhabiting the country around the 
Missouri and Arkansas rivers, and is found in villages from a 
few acres to several miles in extent, which are called by the 
hunters, prairie dog villages. It lives in burrows, the entrance 
to which is in the summit or side of a small mound of 
earth, somewhat elevated, but rarely to the height of eighteen 
inches. This mound, particularly around the entrance, is 
trodden down like a pathway. They delight, in pleasant 
weather, to sport about the entrance of their burrows, and 
five or six individuals may be seen sitting on a single mound. 
When alarmed, if the object of terror be near at hand, they 
retreat immediately into their holes ; but if at a distance, 
they remain for some time barking and flourishing their 
tails, or sitting erect to reconnoitre. 

The Porcupine is covered with hard and sharp spines, which 
afford it a natural protection against the attacks of other 
animals. In this respect it resembles the hedgehog, and, were 
external appearance alone regarded, would be arranged with 
it ; but both its structure and its habits of life are different, 
and it is obviously intended for subsisting upon vegetable 
food. 

V. Edentata, Toothless animals, so called from the 
absence of the incisive, and sometimes also of the canine and 
grinding teeth. Their toes are terminated by very large, thick, 
and strong claws, which approach in some degree to the 
nature of hoofs. The animals of this order are likewise 
remarkable for a great degree of torpor, listlessness, and indis- 
position to motion ; but some more than others. The sloth, 
the ant-eater, and armadillo, are among them ; and of each 
of these there are several species. 

The Three-toed Sloth is an animal whose very aspect is 
painful and disgusting, from its excessive ugliness and defor- 
mity. The expression of its countenance and its whole atti- 
tude, indeed, convey to the beholder the impression, that its 
very existence is a burden. It is about the size of a cat. Its 



ORDER VI. RUMINANTIA. 45 

fore legs are much larger than its hind ones, and it drags the 
latter after its body, as if weary of carrying them. It creeps, 
in fact, almost with its belly upon the ground, and cannot 
advance more than fifty or sixty paces in a day. It climbs 
trees, and feeds upon their leaves and smaller branches ; but 
such is its indolence, that, after having despoiled one tree 
of its foliage, it endures the pangs of hunger a long time, 
before it removes to another, and usually consumes a day or 
two in ascending or descending. Sometimes, indeed, it has 
been known to suffer itself to fall to the ground, rather than 
undergo the labor of coming down by the trunk. 

The Armadilloes are principally remarkable for their crus- 
taceous shell or covering, which invests them like a suit of 
armor. This coat of mail is composed of several pieces, and 
marked by bands, the number of which serves to distinguish 
the different species from each other. 

The Ant-eaters are totally destitute of teeth, but are fur- 
nished with a long, slender tongue. This they thrust into the 
habitations of ants and termites, and draw it back covered 
with these animals, which adhere to it by the thick, viscid 
saliva, with which it is covered. 

The animals of this order are principally found in the warm 
parts of the American continent. 

VI. Ruminantia. This order is one of the most distinct 
and well marked among the Mammalia. They have gene- 
rally eight incisive teeth in the lower jaw; but except the 
camel, they have none in the upper ; their place being occu- 
pied by a firm callous projection. They are commonly also 
destitute of the canine teeth. The grinders are always 
adapted for the mastication of vegetable food. They have 
neither toes nor nails, but, instead of them, each of their feet 
is terminated by a double hoof, which has the appearance of a 
single one cut in two. Hence they are called cloven-footed. 
Their fore feet, being thus deprived of the instruments of feel- 
ing, are only capable of being used, like the hind ones, for 
walking; and consequently they are not possessed of that 
freedom of motion in the shoulder-joint, which is observed in 
the animals previously described. Examples of this order are 
found in the camel, lama, antelope, musk, deer, ox, sheep, 
and goat. 

The most distinguished attribute of the ruminating animals, 
and that which gives to them their name, is the power of 
bringing their food up into their mouths, after it has been once 
swallowed, for the purpose of masticating it a second time, 



46 CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 

This power depends upon the structure of their stomachs, of 
which there are four. Of these the three first are so situated 
that the aliments may be made to enter either of them at 
pleasure, as the oesophagus terminates at a point where they 
all communicate together. 

These animals usually feed upon grass and herbage ; which 
substances, after being slightly chewed, are carried into the 
first stomach, called the paunch ; there they undergo but little 
change, and are gradually transferred to the second stomach, 
a small globular cavity, called the bonnet, or king's hood, 
whose internal membrane is arranged in cells of an appear- 
ance like those of honey-comb. Having received the food, 
this stomach divides it into little rolls or pellets, which are 
successively carried up into the mouth, where they undergo 
a thorough mastication, and are then again swallowed and 
deposited in the third stomach. This, called manyplies, tripe, 
or feck, is distinguished by the numerous longitudinal folds of 
its internal membrane. It effects some further change upon 
the alimentary mass. In the fourth stomach, however, into 
which it next passes, the principal work of digestion goes on. 
This answers to the single stomach of other animals ; into it 
the gastric juice is poured, and here the function is finally 
completed. During the rumination, the animal remains in a 
state of repose, almost of sleep ; and this operation continues 
until the whole of the food previously swallowed has been 
subjected to it. 

The ruminating animals have been more valuable to man, 
than any others. They are mild, docile, and easily domesti- 
cated. Their flesh furnishes us with a large proportion of our 
animal food ; indeed there are few other quadrupeds that man 
is in the habit of eating. Several of them, as the camel, the 
lama, ox, and rein-deer, are used as beasts of draught and 
burden. They require, comparatively, little care, attention, 
or protection, and are generally contented with the cheapest 
and coarsest food. The milk, fat, hair, wool, skins, horns, 
and feet of one species or another, are made use of, for nour- 
ishment, for clothing, or for various manufactures. 

The Camel and Dromedary are singularly valuable in the 
countries where they are reared. Without them, in fact, the 
great deserts of Arabia and of Africa would be totally impas- 
sable. Their structure is every way adapted for the life which 
they lead. Their feet are very large, and divided, on their 
upper part, into two lobes, having each a hoof; but under- 
neath are covered with an extremely strong, tough, and pliable 



ORDER VI, RUMXNANTlA* 47 

skin> which unites the two together, and, by yielding in all 
directions, enables these animals to travel witfy peculiar ease 
and security over dry, stony, and sandy regions, They are 
capable also of passing several days without a supply of water : 
this power is probably owing to a number of large and exten- 
sive cells in the paunch, which they fill with water, and retain 
it for a considerable length of time, forcing it up into the 
mouth whenever occasion requires. It has been supposed 
that the camel had a fifth stomach for this purpose, but it was 
probably the enlargement of the paunch, which gave rise to 
the opinion. The Arabian camel, of which the dromedary is 
a variety, has one large bunch of fat upon his back, while the 
Bactrian camel has two. The dromedary is active and swift, 
and better adapted for rapid journeys ; the camel more slow 
and deliberate, and calculated for the transportation of bag- 
gage and merchandise. 

The Lama has been called the camel of the new world. It 
resembles the camel in many particulars, but is much smaller, 
being of about the size of the stag. It is also called the 
Guanaco, and was the only laboring domestic animal possessed 
by the aboriginal inhabitants of America. 

The American Bison, or Buffalo, as it is often, but improp- 
erly called, is an animal very similar to the domestic ox. It 
inhabits the pastures and plains of the western parts of the 
United States in almost incredible numbers. In those parts 
of the country which they frequent, travellers report that 
their paths leading to and from springs and pools of water, 
are as common, and as well beaten, as the roads of a populous 
district. They are gradually retiring before the settlements 
of the civilized inhabitants, and will probably in time become 
nearly exterminated. 

The Camelopard, or Giraffe, is the most lofty of all quadru- 
peds. It is remarkable for the great length of its fore legs, 
shoulders, and neck, which raise its head to an elevation of 
seventeen or eighteen feet, whilst, at its tail, it does not 
exceed half that height. Its color is white, spotted with brown. 
It is a mild, gentle, and somewhat timid animal, and is very 
fleet and graceful in its motions. It feeds principally upon the 
foliage of trees, and inhabits only the centre of Africa. 

All the ruminating order, except the camel, lama, and the 
musks, have horns. In animals of the deer kind, they are, 
with some exceptions, confined to the males. They are of 
a hard, solid, bony substance, generally large and branching, 
and are periodically cast off and renewed. In the sheep, 



48 ORDER VII. PACHYDEKMATA, 

the goat, the ox, and the antelope, they are permanent, are 
hollow, and increase yearly in size ; whilst in the camelopard 
they are short, conical, and always covered by the skin of the 
forehead, which extends over them, and by a quantity of thick, 
bristly hairs. 

VII. Pachydermata. This order embraces all the animals 
with hoofs which do not ruminate. They present a greater 
variety than the ruminating animals, and are called Pachy- 
dermata, because they are commonly possessed of a thick and 
tough skin. They have generally incisive teeth in both jaws, 
and often canine teeth or tusks of very great size. Of this 
order are the elephant, the hippopotamus, the tapir, the hog, 
the horse, the ass, &>c. 

The elephant has, properly speaking, five hoofs on each 
foot, but they are so much enveloped by thick and callous 
skin, as to be scarcely observable. It is destitute of incisive 
teeth in either jaw ; and, in place of the canine teeth in the 
upper, is furnished with two large tusks, which sometimes 
attain to an enormous size. These, which furnish the ivory 
of commerce, are used by the animal for tearing off the 
branches of trees, upon which it feeds, and sometimes as 
instruments of attack and defence. From the shortness of its 
neck, and the clumsiness of its head and jaws, the elephant is 
incapable of taking up its food or drink from the ground with 
the mouth like other animals. This difficulty is obviated by its 
trunk or proboscis. This is a long and flexible organ, composed 
of an almost infinite number of little muscles, which contract 
and extend it at the animal's pleasure, and move it in every 
possible direction. It is in fact a prolongation of the nostrils, 
and is endowed with the senses of smelling and feeling to a 
great degree of perfection. There is at its extremity a cavity 
of a cup-like form, into which open two canals that run through 
its whole length, and serve for the transmission of air and for 
drawing up water. At the upper edge of this cavity, or cup, 
is a small fleshy appendage, somewhat resembling a finger 
in shape, which, by being opposed to the surface of the cup, 
as the fingers are opposed to the palm of the hand, enables 
the animal to make use of its trunk as an organ of touch. It 
is nearly equal in this respect to the hand of the apes. From 
its length and flexibility, the trunk is capable of being bent 
double, and its extremity inserted within the jaws which are 
below, at its base ; and in this way the animal's food, being 
taken up by the trunk, is conveyed into the mouth; whilst its 
drink, being first sucked up into the cavities of the trunk, is 



order vii. pachydermata. 49 

injected with considerable force through the apertures of the 
nostrils into the throat. 

There are two species of elephant ; the Indian or Asiatic, 
which inhabits the southern parts of Asia and the Indian 
isles ; and the African, found in Africa, from the river Sene- 
gal to the Cape of Good Hope. 

The great Mastodon, or Mammoth, as it has been more 
frequently called, an animal whose bones only have been dis- 
covered, the species itself having become extinct, resembled 
the elephant in many respects. It has been ascertained, from 
the remains which have been found, that this animal pos- 
sessed a trunk, tusks, and feet, similar to those of the ele- 
phant, and was of an equal size, but still more heavy and 
unwieldy. Its remains have been discovered in great abun- 
dance in North America, but rarely in any other part of the 
world. The bones of a smaller species have been found on 
the eastern continent. 

The Hippopotamus, or River Horse, inhabits principally 
the rivers of the south of Africa, but was formerly known 
upon the southern extremities of the Nile. It is sometimes 
found ten or twelve feet in length, and six or seven in 
height. It has two very large tusks in the under jaw, which 
are partly concealed by its projecting snout and lips. These 
tusks are used by dentists for the manufacture of artificial 
teeth. It is a heavy, stupid, and ferocious animal ; its body 
is thick, massy, and clumsy ; and its legs are so short that its 
belly almost drags upon the ground. It subsists upon roots 
and other vegetable substances, and frequently commits great 
devastation in the fields of millet, corn, rice, sugar-cane, &c. 
It walks with great ease at the bottom of the water, though 
obliged occasionally to rise to the surface for breath. An 
attack upon it while in the water is dangerous, since, when 
wounded, it becomes exceedingly furious, and often tears to 
pieces the boat of its aggressors. 

Of the Rhinoceros there are several species. The one 
horned rhinoceros is somewhat larger than the hippopotamus, 
and is equally stupid and ferocious. It has one large and 
solid horn, three feet in length, projecting from its snout. 
It frequents moist and marshy grounds, and feeds upon herbs, 
roots, and branches of trees. The other species have two 
horns, and are generally similar in form and habits of life. 

The Tapir is the largest quadruped of South America ; it 
is of about the size of an ass, and inhabits marshes and low 
grounds. Its nose terminates in a short and movable trunk, 



-30 CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 

which bears a distant resemblance to that of the elephant. 
ft subsists entirely upon vegetables, and is of a gentle and 
timid disposition. 

From the Wild Boar is derived the domestic Hog and all 
its varieties. The wild animal is extremely violent and fero- 
cious, and is armed with much larger and stronger tusks than 
the domestic. All the numerous varieties of form, size, and 
color, which are observed among hogs, are to be attributed 
to the circumstances to which they are exposed in their do- 
mestic state. 

Under this order are included the Solipeda or single-hoofed 
animals, in which the. t whole foot is enveloped in a single 
hoof. Of these, the most celebrated is the horse, one of the 
most beautiful and noble of quadrupeds. These animals are 
distinguished, beside the formation of their hoofs, by the pos- 
session of six incisive teeth in each jaw; and, in the male, of 
two small canine teeth in the upper, and sometimes in the 
under jaw, which are wanting in the female. Between these 
and the double teeth, or grinders, there is a vacant space, 
just corresponding to the angle of the lips, where the bit of 
the bridle is placed, by which man is enabled to guide and 
restrain him. Beside the horse, which is the most valuable 
and highly prized of all the domestic animals, this family em- 
braces the ass, the zebra, the dziggetai, a species between 
the horse and the ass in size, of a light bay color, inhabiting 
the central deserts of Asia, and the Couagga, an inhabitant 
of Africa, resembling in shape the horse, but in stripes of dark 
and white colors, the zebra. 

All these animals are found naturally in the wild state, ex- 
cept the horse. They are gregarious animals, live in immense 
herds, and subsist entirely upon vegetable food. Even the 
horse, in Tartary and America, is found, free from the domin- 
ion of man, collected into troops or companies, each of which ; 
is led and defended by an aged male. But in such cases it 
has been proved that the wild animals are the descendants of 
individuals who have been set at liberty by their masters, or 
who have escaped from them. Different breeds of horses 
differ, as is well known, in their color, size, speed, shape, 
strength, and many other qualities, which render them more 
or less valuable. These differences depend very much upon 
the care which is taken in rearing the young. The most 
beautiful, if suffered to become wild, will begin soon to de- 
teriorate, and give birth to a progeny destitute of elegance 
and symmetry. The horse in the wild state has a large and 



CLASS I. MAMMALIA. ORDER VIII. CETACEA. 51 

clumsy head, rough and frizzled hair, and an awkward and 
disagreeable form ; so different indeed is he from the domestic 
animal, that we can hardly recognize him tfs being of the 
same species with the noble and graceful creature that we are 
accustomed to behold. 

VIII. Cetacea. The whales are usually confounded with 
the class of fishes, which they resemble in many particulars 
of external appearance, as well as in the circumstance of re- 
siding always in the water. In point of structure, however, 
they clearly belong to the class Mammalia, since they breathe 
air by means of lungs, are warm-blooded, produce their 
young alive, and nourish them with their own milk. Instead 
of fore feet, they are furnished with fins or oars, which, how- 
ever, are supported by bones similar to those of the fore feet 
of quadrupeds. They have no hind feet, but their body ter- 
minates in a thick tail, which supports a fin or oar. This fin 
is horizontal, whilst that of fishes is vertical. 

A few of the Cetacea are herbivorous, and are frequently 
obliged to leave the water and crawl upon the shore in search 
of food. Such are the manati, usually called the sea-ox and 
sea-cow, and the dugong. They have upon their fins the 
rudiments of claws, which are of service to them in their mo- 
tions upon the land, and with which they are even able to 
carry their young. The mammae, from which they nurse 
their young, are upon the chest, like those of the human spe- 
cies ; and they have, around the face, a growth of hair which 
resembles, in a slight degree, that of man. Hence the ap- 
pearance they present when the upper part of their bodies is 
elevated above the water, bears some resemblance to that of 
mankind, and they have, consequently, been called sea-apes. 
It is probable that these animals being seen by the credulous, 
the ignorant, the timid, or the superstitious, gave rise to the 
ancient fables of the tritons and sirens, and, in modern times, 
to the various unfounded stories of mermen and mermaids. 

The remainder of the cetaceous animals, such as the whale, 
porpoise, grampus, narwhale, and dolphin, are distinguished 
by a peculiar construction, which has acquired for them the 
common name of blowers, and which is rendered necessary 
by their mode of taking their prey. In taking into their very 
large mouths a great number of fishes, mollusca, medusee, 
&/C, at once, they would swallow at the same time large 
quantities of water, w r ere there not some provision for getting 
rid of it. To effect this, the water is passed up through the 
roof of the mouth, into a cavity situated near the external ori- 



52 CLASS I. MAMMALIA. ORDER IX. MARSUPIALIA. 

fice of the nostrils, from whence it is ejected, with consider- 
able force, through a small aperture, called the blowhole, on 
the upper part of the head. In some of the whales, as in the 
great Balaena, beside this arrangement, the mouth is fur- 
nished with rows of whalebone on each side, extended in the 
form of thin plates, and terminating at their edges in fibres 
or a sort of fringe, which serve the purpose of a sieve, or 
strainer, to retain the large shoals of little animals that are 
taken in with the water, whilst the water passes through and 
escapes. 

The Balaena mysticetus, or great Greenland Whale, is an 
enormous animal, which attains to a length varying from sixty 
to seventy or eighty feet, and is nearly of as many in cir- 
cumference. Its jaws are capable of being stretched twenty 
feet apart, and its plates of whalebone are sometimes twelve 
feet in length. It is covered, under the skin, by a layer of 
fat, which is often several feet thick, and yields, according to 
the different sizes of the animal, from twelve to twenty tons 
of oil. It used formerly to frequent the Atlantic coasts of 
Europe and America; but to such an extent has the pursuit 
of it been carried, that it has gradually been driven into the 
recesses of the northern seas. 

There are other whales equal in length to this, but less val- 
uable on account of their smaller circumference, their com- 
parative leanness, and the difficulty of taking them. 

The Spermaceti Whales are without the whalebone, and 
are remarkable for the disproportionate size of their heads. 
This size is owing to the existence of certain cartilaginous 
cavities upon their upper part, in which is contained the pe- 
culiar substance known by the name of spermaceti. These 
cavities are entirely distinct from that containing the brain, 
which is very small. They have little fat in other parts of 
their bodies ; and it is on account of the spermaceti only that 
they are a valuable object of fishery. The odorous substance i 
called ambergris, appears to be a concretion formed in the t 
intestines of these whales, particularly when they are the sub- 
jects of disease. 

IX. Marsupialia. The Marsupial animals have usually i 
been distributed among those orders of the class Mammalia, \ 
to which they bear, in some particulars, the closest resem- 
blance. Thus the Kangaroo has been enumerated among 
the Rodentia, because it resembles them in its teeth, and the 
length and strength of its hind legs. The Opossum has been 
ranked among the Carnivora, and the Ornithorhynchus among 



ORDER IX. MARSUPIALIA. 53 

the Edentata for a similar reason. But so peculiar and re- 
markable is the structure of these animals, and so singular 
their mode of nourishing their young, that it will be far more 
intelligible and interesting to the student of natural history, 
to have them placed together, and described as belonging to 
a single order. 

The most remarkable circumstance, with regard to the 
Marsupial animals, is the premature birth of their young, and 
the exceedingly unformed and imperfect state in which they 
are brought into the world. They are incapable of motion, 
and scarcely exhibit even the rudiments of limbs or other ex- 
ternal organs. Their mouth is simply a round orifice, with- 
out distinction of parts; but by means of it, they attach them- 
selves to the nipples of the mother, and there remain immovably 
fixed, deriving their nourishment from them, and gradually 
improving in shape and increasing in size, until they are 
as completely formed as other animals are at the time of 
their birth. So small in proportion are the young when first 
born, that the Kangaroo, which, when full grown, is as large 
as a sheep, and weighs one hundred and fifty pounds, is at 
its birth no more than an inch in length, and weighs only 
twenty-one grains. 

Generally, the female is furnished with a duplicature of the 
skin of the abdomen, which forms a kind of bag, covering the 
nipples, in which it places its young, and preserves them du- 
ring the period of helplessness. Frequently, indeed, even af- 
ter they have acquired strength to leave this pouch, they re- 
treat into it upon the approach of danger. Sometimes, in 
place of the pouch, there is simply a fold of the skin. The 
pouch is supported by means of two bones attached to those 
of the pelvis, from which proceed muscles that open or con- 
tract its mouth, like the opening of a purse. These bones 
are found also in the male, and in those species which have 
not the complete pouch; and are always an indication that 
the animal belongs to this order. 

The Opossum is as large as a cat, and covered with a thick 
fur of a dingy cast. It hunts after birds and their eggs, and 
is destructive to poultry. It is found in many parts of the 
United States. When pursued and overtaken, it feigns it- 
self dead, and will give no signs of life during the presence 
of its assailant, although tortured to a great degree. Its 
young, which are sometimes six or seven in number, are ex- 
ceedingly minute ; and, although blind and without limbs, 
find their way, by a sort of instinct, to the nipples, and adhere 
5* 



54 CLASS I. MAMMALIA. ORDER IX. MARSIJPIALIA, 

to them till they have attained the size of a mouse, which is 
not until the fiftieth day, when also they first open their eyes. 
They continue to return into the pouch, until they reach the 
size of a rat. 

The Phal angers are found in the Moluccas and New Hol- 
land. Their tails are long, covered with scales, and prehen- 
sile. They live upon trees, and subsist upon insects and 
fruit. When any one approaches them, they suspend them- 
selves by the tail, until they fall, through mere fatigue, to 
the ground. The Phalanger volans, or Great Flying Opos- 
sum, is about the size of a common cat, and resembles, in 
many respects, the flying squirrel. Like that animal, it is 
provided with the power of extending the loose skin of its 
sides when it stretches out its legs, so as in some measure to 
buoy itself in the air, whilst leaping from one tree to another. 
It can leap in this way to the distance of a hundred yards. 

The Merian Opossum is remarkable for its method of car- 
rying its young. It conveys them on its back, where they 
fix themselves by twisting their tails closely about that of their 
parent, clinging with their claws to its fur. 

The Kangaroo is the largest animal of this order, and the 
largest quadruped which has been discovered in New Holland. 
It is sometimes six feet in height, and is distinguished by the 
great disproportion in length between its fore and hind legs ; 
the former being only one foot and a half long, but the latter 
three feet and a half. In consequence of this, they cannot 
walk upon all fours without difficulty, but leap with great 
power and to a prodigious distance, sometimes twenty feet, 
and to the height of nine feet. They sit upon their hind legs 
whilst at rest, seldom using the fore legs, except for support- 
ing themselves when stooping to drink, for conveying food to 
the mouth, and for digging in the earth. But although dis- 
proportionately long, as has just been observed, when full 
grown, the hind legs of the Kangaroo at birth are not so 
large or so strong as the fore legs, which are more necessary, 
in order to favor the motions of the little animal while in 
the pouch. 

The Ornithorhynchus has not the pouch, like the opossum 
and kangaroo, but has the marsupial bones, and is therefore 
to be enumerated under this order. It is a most singular and 
anomalous animal, and approaches, in some particulars, to a 
resemblance to birds. Its mouth is very much like the bill 
of the duck ; it has a bone resembling the fourchette or 
wishing-bone of birds ; it has no nipples for nursing its young, 




CLASS II. BIRDS. 55 

and a doubt still exists if it be not oviparous. This is the 
belief of the inhabitants of New Holland, who assert that it 
Jays two eggs; and the dissection of the animal has led to 
the opinion that the eggs, if not laid, are hatched within the 
body of the parent, by its own heat, but just before the birth 
of the offspring. The male has, upon each of its hind feet, 
a spur, perforated by a small canal, through which, it is said, 
it can eject a poisonous fluid when it inflicts a wound. It is 
an aquatic animal, inhabiting the rivers and marshes of New 
Holland. Its feet are webbed, to adapt it for swimming. 



SECTION III. 
Class II. Birds. 

Birds being intended for flight, Nature has adapted the 
structure of their organs to this purpose. Their anterior 
extremities, being designed to support them in the air, serve 
none of those purposes to which they are applied in quad- 
rupeds ; . and they therefore invariably stand and walk upon 
two feet only. The neck is long, and capable of a great 
variety and extent of motion ; and the mouth, being furnished 
with a hard, horny beak, is without teeth. The breast-bone 
is very large and strong, in order to support the powerful 
actions of the wings, and has in front a large projection, in 
shape like a keel, that serves for the attachment of the strong 
muscles which put the wings in motion. The wings are 
composed of nearly the same number and kind of bones as 
the anterior extremities of quadrupeds, and are covered with 
long and wide feathers or quills, so arranged as to be capable 
of acting upon the air, raising the animal from the ground, 
and conveying it about from place to plaGe. The tail is also 
furnished with feathers that may be stretched out in the 
form of a fan, and serve to balance and direct the flight. The 
feet are furnished generally with four claws, but sometimes 
with only three. The bones of the leg and thigh resemble 
very nearly those of quadrupeds. 

The heart of birds is constructed, like that of the Mamma- 
lia, with four cavities, two auricles and two ventricles. They 
have, of course, a double circulation, one through the lungs, 
and the other through the body. Their lungs, however, are 
arranged differently. They are fixed against the back and 
sides of the body, and covered by a membrane, which, being 



56 STRUCTURE OF BIRDS. 

perforated by many small openings, permits the air to enter 
into them, and likewise to pass into several cavities situated 
in the chest and belly. It even extends into the interior of 
the bones, and by thus pervading various parts of the body, 
not only exercises very extensively its peculiar influence on 
the blood, but also renders the whole body lighter and better 
adapted for flight. 

The organs of digestion also are somewhat varied. As 
birds cannot chew their food, a provision is made to supply 
this defect by means of the structure of their internal organs. 
The food is carried first into the crop, which appears to be 
merely an enlargement of the oesophagus or gullet, at the 
bottom of the neck, where it is softened by a liquor poured 
out from the internal surface of this cavity. It is then carried 
into a membranous sack, called the ventriculus succenturiatus, 
where it is further macerated and soaked ; and from thence 
into the gizzard, which is composed of two very strong and 
firm muscles, united by radiated tendons, and lined on its 
inside by a rough cartilaginous membrane. In this organ 
the food is powerfully acted upon, and is triturated and ground 
up into a substance resembling that prepared by the teeth and 
stomach of the Mammalia. 

This structure, however, is not fully carried out in all birds. 
It exists in its most complete state in those which are gra- 
nivorous, or which live upon fruit, seed, &c. ; but in the car- 
nivorous birds, or those which feed upon flesh or fish, the 
dilatation, constituting the crop, is very small or altogether 
wanting ; and the gizzard is a thin and weak organ, hardly to 
be distinguished from the second or membranous stomach. 
This is a difference corresponding to that which has been 
described as existing in the Mammalia ; among which those 
feeding upon vegetable food are provided with powerful and 
extensive organs of digestion, whilst in those living upon 
animal food they are comparatively weak, and limited in extent. 

The sight of birds is very perfect. They possess the power 
of seeing objects distinctly, when very remote. Birds of prey 
are particularly remarkable for the very great distance at 
which they perceive their prey, and the accuracy with which 
they direct their flight towards it. Besides the upper and 
under eyelids, birds have a third, which is semitransparent, 
and serves the purpose of protecting the eye from the contact 
of external bodies, or from too powerful light, whilst, at the 
same time, it does not prevent them from distinguishing the 
objects around them. This membrane is situated at the inner 



ORDER I. ACCIPITRES. 57 

angle of the eye, and is drawn over the globe of it, like a cur- 
tain, at wilL It is by means of this protection, that the eagle 
is enabled to look steadily at the sun. 

The senses of hearing and smelling are also possessed in 
considerable perfection by birds; the former more particularly 
by the nocturnal, and the latter by those feeding principally 
upon carrion, the scent of which they are thus able to trace 
to an immense distance. Their tongue being chiefly of bone 
or cartilage, they have little delicacy of taste ; and the sense 
of touch, judging from the structure of their claws and beak, 
which would be the organs for its exercise, must be exceed- 
ingly imperfect. 

Most birds construct nests, and some of them with much 
care, labor, and ingenuity. In these they deposit their eggs, 
and hatch them by the heat of their own bodies. Some few 
lay them upon the sand, and leave them to be hatched by the 
heat of the sun. Their care and affection for their young are 
well known, and, in providing for and protecting them, they 
exhibit many indications of sagacity or of feeling. They are 
capable of some slight improvements by education and imita- 
tion, but are, on the whole, in this re&pect decidedly inferior 
to quadrupeds. The class of birds is divided, according to 
their structure and habits of life, into six orders. 

1. Accipitres, or Birds of Prey. These correspond, in 
many respects, with the carnivorous animals among quadru- 
peds. They are distinguished by their strong, hooked beaks, 
and their crooked and powerful talons, by means of which 
they are enabled to prey upon other birds, and even upon some 
of the smaller quadrupeds and reptiles. They are divided 
into the diurnal and the nocturnal. The diurnal include the 
vultures, eagles, falcons, hawks, buzzards, and kites. The 
vultures are heavy and ferocious birds, feeding principally 
upon carrion. They are so voracious, and fill themselves to 
such an extent, that they become quite stupid and inactive, 
and during digestion, a fetid humor distils from their nostrils. 
The eagles, falcons, &c, prefer living animals for their food, 
and never prey upon carrion, unless driven to it by hunger. 
The number of their species is very great, and they are observed 
to vary considerably in their plumage, according to their age 
and other circumstances. The females are generally a third 
part larger than the males, and are likewise superior in beauty 
of shape and plumage. Hence the latter are often called 
tercels, or thirds, from their inferiority in size. 

These birds are generally fierce and difficult to tame, but 



&& CLASS II. BIRDS. ORDER II. PASSERES. 

in former days, the hawk and the falcon were educated with 
great care, and trained so as to be employed as assistants in 
hunting. 

The nocturnal birds of prey include only the different spe- 
cies of owl. They are destitute of the dignity and beauty 
which distinguish the diurnal. They have very large heads, 
which are sometimes surmounted with feathers that give them 
the appearance of being horned. Their eyes are very large, 
and, unlike those of most other birds, are directed forwards, 
and surrounded by a rim or circle of projecting feathers. 
Their structure is calculated to admit so much light, that the 
full rays of the sun dazzle and blind them ; and they are 
capable of seeing only in the twilight or evening. The owls 
are awkward and clumsy in their motions, and their wings are 
too short and weak for long flights. They prey upon mice 
and other small quadrupeds, upon birds and insects. 

II. Passeres, or Sparrows, form the most extensive and 
numerous order, embracing a very great variety of species, 
which differ so much among themselves, as to be hardly capa- 
ble of an intelligible description, common to them all. To this 
order belong those species which are most celebrated for the 
sweetness and harmony of their notes; and in general the 
organ of voice is in them larger and better formed, than in 
any others. Among them are some that have a sharp, pointed 
beak, and feed upon insects, such as the blackbird, the robin, 
the nightingale, and the linnet; and others with a short, flat 
beak, and wide mouth, which enable them to catch and swal- 
low insects, while upon the wing. These migrate during the 
winter ; among them being the swallow, the martin, and the 
salangane, a species whose nests, made of a gelatinous sub- 
stance, probably the spawn of fishes, have been celebrated for 
their nutritious and restorative qualities. Some of this order 
have a strong, conical beak, feed upon seeds, and devour great 
quantities of cultivated grain; as the lark, the titmouse, the 
yellow-hammer ; and some are larger birds, as the crow and 
the magpie, which feed also in part upon grain, but are fond 
of flesh, and will sometimes take and destroy mice and other 
small animals. 

The Birds of Paradise and the Humming Birds are also of 
this order. The birds of paradise have been celebrated for 
the splendor of their plumage, and the profusion of long feath- 
ers with which different parts of their bodies are adorned. It 
was formerly believed that they were destitute of feet, and 
never alighted upon the earth, but were always supported in 



ORDEft III. SCANSORES. 59 

the air by their long plumage, This mistake was caused by 
the mode of preparing them for sale, adopted by the natives 
of the countries they inhabit, who always deprived them of 
their feet and wings. 

The Humming Birds are the smallest of the class of birds, 
and at the same time among the most beautiful. Their necks 
are clothed with small scale-like feathers of a peculiar struc- 
ture, and a brilliancy almost equal to that of precious stones. 
They have a long and slender beak, and along tongue divided 
into two filaments, with which they suck the nectar of flowers. 
They feed also upon insects. Their wings are exceedingly 
powerful in proportion to the size of their bodies, and they 
fly, comparatively, more rapidly than any other birds. They 
have the faculty of balancing themselves, by means of their 
wings, as easily as some insects, and are thus enabled to 
remain stationary in the air, whilst they thrust their beaks 
into flowers, to possess themselves of the contents. The rapid 
motion of their wings occasions the buzzing or humming noise 
with which their flight is accompanied. The smallest species 
of humming bird is found in South America and some of the 
West Indian islands. It does not exceed an inch and a quar- 
ter from the extremity of its beak to that of its tail. 

III. Scansores, or Climbers. This order includes those 
birds that have the external toe upon each side turned back- 
ward, which enables them to grasp substances more firmly 
with their claws, and affords them a more sure support than 
other birds. This structure adapts them for climbing, as they 
can cling with considerable force to the rough bark and 
branches of trees. Hence all birds with this form of the feet 
are of this order, although, strictly speaking, all of them do 
not climb, whilst some, belonging to others, and without this 
provision, do. 

The birds of this order generally build their nests in the 
holes of decayed trees. Their food consists of insects, fruits, 
or seeds. Among them are the woodpecker, the cuckoo, the 
toucan, the parrot, &,c. 

The Woodpeckers are strongly characterized by a long, 
straight, angular beak, narrowed into a wedge at its extremity, 
and thus fitted for piercing and splitting open the bark of 
trees ; and by a long and slender tongue, covered towards its 
tip with spines or bristles, which are turned backwards, and 
coated with a thick, viscid secretion. They run in every 
direction around the trunks and branches of trees, striking them 
with their beaks, and thrusting their tongues into the holes 



60 CLASS II. BIRDS. ORDERS IV* AtfD V. 

and clefts they find in the bark, for the purpose of drawing out 
worms and the larvae of insects, which constitute their food. 

The Toucan is principally remarkable for the enormous size 
of its beak, which is almost as large and as long as its whole 
body. It is of a light, cellular structure, and furnished with a 
long tongue, straight, and armed on each side with barbs like 
a feather, The toucans live in small flocks in the warm parts 
of America. When they have seized their food, they throw 
it into the air, and catch it with their beaks, in order to swal- 
low it with more ease, as they are incapable of masticating it, 

TV. Gallinacece, the Gallinaceous birds. Of this order 
are the peacock, the turkey, the common fowl, the pheasant, 
the partridge, the quail, the pigeon, &c. Among them are 
nearly all those birds which have been domesticated, and are 
raised in poultry yards. Their wings are short and weak, and 
of course they are not constructed for long-continued flight ; 
but they are capable of running with considerable rapidity. 
They have a large crop and a very powerful gizzard, their food 
consisting principally of hard grain. Their flesh in general 
furnishes excellent food. The males are distinguished by a 
stately gait, and frequently by a tail ornamented with long 
feathers. They do not live in pairs ; their eggs are very 
numerous, and are laid in nests built of chaff or straw upon 
the ground. Their young are generally able to run about as 
soon as hatched. 

The Pigeons form in some particulars an exception to the 
general characteristics of the gallinaceous birds, and approach 
to a resemblance to the Passeres. They fly very well, live in 
pairs, build their nests upon trees or in the clefts of rocks, 
and produce seldom more than two eggs at once. They nour- 
ish their young by bringing up from the crop the food partly 
digested, with which they feed them. The most remarkable 
species among them is the crowned pigeon of the Molucca 
islands, which is equal in size to a turkey. Its voice is exceed- 
ingly loud and harsh, and is said to have frightened sailors, who 
landed on the islands it inhabits, by its resemblance to the 
yells of the savage natives. 

V. Grallce y the Waders, otherwise called Shore birds. 
They are distinguished by their very long and naked legs, 
which permit them to wade to a considerable depth in the 
water without wetting their feathers. The length of their neck 
and beak corresponds to that of their legs, and they are conse- 
quently able to search in the sand and mud at the bottom of 
the water for their food, which consists of fishes, reptiles, and 



CLASS ill. REPTILES. 61 

wor ms. All birds with this structure of the legs are ranked 
among the Grallae, although some of them are not, properly 
speaking, waders in their habits. To this order belong the 
ostrich, cassowary, flamingo, heron, spoonbill, plover, rail, 
woodcock, ox-eye, yellowleg, &>c, The greater part of them 
are possessed of strong wings, and fly well, but the ostrich and 
cassowary, as is well known, are striking exceptions. They 
are almost incapable of flight, but run with immense rapidity. 
The ostrich inhabits the sandy deserts of Africa, attains to a 
height varying from six to eight feet, and is at once the most 
lofty of birds, and the swiftest of all animals. When chased, 
it annoys its pursuers by throwing up gravel and stones behind 
it with its feet. 

VI. Anseres^ the Web-footed birds. Their toes are con- 
nected together by a web or membrane, which fits them for 
being used as oars. Indeed, the whole structure of these birds 
is such as to adapt them for swimming. Their legs are situ- 
ated far back upon their bodies ; their feathers are thick, 
smooth, and oily, and their skin beneath covered by a layer of 
close down, which effectually protects them from the contact 
of the water. Their necks are of considerable length — a pro- 
vision which enables them, while swimming upon the surface 
of the water, to plunge their heads down to the bottom in 
search of food. Most of them are capable of a lofty and long- 
continued flight, as the pelican, petrel, cormorant, albatross, 
gull, wild goose, and duck ; whilst others, from the shortness 
of their wings, can scarcely raise themselves into the air, but 
are principally confined to the surface of the water, as the sea- 
diver, guillemot, penguin, awk, domestic goose and duck, &c. 



SECTION IV. 

Class III. Reptiles* 

The class of reptiles, including the tortoises, lizards, ser- 
pents, toads, and frogs, have cold blood, and a circulation and 
respiration less perfect than those of the preceding classes, 
which have warm blood. In reptiles, only a part of the blood 
received from the body by the heart, is sent to the lungs, to 
be subjected to the influence of the air; whilst the remainder, 
having been mixed with a portion which has undergone the 
change that takes place in respiration, is returned again into 
the circulation. The greater part of the animals of this class 
6 



62 CLASS III. REPTILES. ORDERS I. AND II. 

have two auricles to the heart, but only one ventricle : into 
the left auricle, the red blood from the lungs is poured, and 
into the right, the black blood from the body. From the au- 
ricles, the two kinds of blood are immediately transferred to 
the ventricle, where they are mixed together ; and this min- 
gled mass is, by the contraction of the ventricle, sent through 
two distinct vessels, in part to the lungs, and in part to the 
body. 

The vessels of reptiles, then, are not filled with pure red 
blood, like those of the Mammalia and Birds, but with an im- 
perfect fluid, not so well adapted to give them a high degree 
of life and vigor. Hence, as the animal heat is always in 
proportion to the quantity of respiration, they are cold-blooded. 
Their lungs are not so large; their circulation is slower; 
they consume less air, and are capable of living for a longer 
time without it. They are, in general, sluggish and indo- 
lent in their habits of life, obtuse in their sensations, and 
slow in their digestion. In cold countries, they pass the 
greater part of the winter in a dormant state. Their brain is 
small, and their nervous system imperfect and of less influ- 
ence than in the preceding classes. They produce their 
young by means of eggs, but take no pains themselves to 
hatch them. They have less intelligence, fewer faculties, 
and less instinct, than either quadrupeds or birds. They are 
arranged in four orders, viz. 

I. Clielonia, the Tortoises, are distinguished by the pecu- 
liar structure of their ribs, sternum, and vertebrae. These 
are so arranged as to form a complete covering, consisting of 
an upper and under shell, joined together at their sides, which 
permits only their head, tail, and four extremities, to be ex- 
tended without it. The upper shell is formed by the exten- 
sion and enlargement of the ribs and part of the back-bone ; 
and the lower shell, by an alteration in the form of the ster- 
num. Their other bones are not essentially different from 
those of other vertebral animals. Thus a part of their skeleton 
is, in fact, on the outside of their bodies. They have no teeth ; 
but their jaws are armed with a tough, horny substance, which 
supplies their place. Their stomach is simple and strong ; 
their intestines are long, and they are capable of going a 
great length of time without food. All the various species of 
the turtle and tortoise belong to. this order. 

II. Sauria, the Lizards. This order includes a very con- 
siderable variety, and is composed of the crocodile, the alli- 
gator, the chameleon, the true lizards, and the dragons. The 



ORDER II. SAURIA. ORDER III. OPHIDIA. 63 

greater part of them have four feet, but a few are possessed 
of only two. They have nails and teeth, and their skin is 
covered with scales. 

The Crocodile is the most celebrated animal of this order. 
It is from twenty to thirty feet in length, including the tail, 
and is covered with a coat of scales, which, on the back, form 
an armor proof against a bullet, and have an appearance like 
that of carved work. It deposits its eggs in the sand, where 
the greater part of them are destroyed by birds, and an ani- 
mal called the ichneumon. Their eggs resemble, a good deal, 
those of the domestic goose, and are of about the same size ; 
the young, when first hatched, are of course very small when 
compared with the parent animal. They are at first mild and 
innocent, and may be handled with impunity ; but the full- 
grown animal is both subtle and formidable. It lies in wait, 
covered from view amidst long grass, rushes, or projecting 
banks of rivers, until some other animal comes within its 
reach, which it seizes and swallows, and then retires to some 
secret recess to digest. 

The Dragons are remarkable for the possession of a sort of 
wings, produced by the extension of the six first false ribs, 
which support a fold of the skin. These serve, like a para- 
chute, to uphold these animals in leaping to the ground from 
any height, or in springing from branch to branch on the trees 
they inhabit ; but are not sufficiently large or powerful to 
enable them to raise themselves from the earth. 

To Chameleons has been attributed the singular faculty of 
changing the color of their skin, according to the color of the 
substance on which they are placed, and of subsisting upon 
air. This belief has arisen from the extraordinary size of 
their lungs, which they are capable of distending with air to 
such an enormous extent, as to fill nearly their whole body, 
and render their skin somewhat transparent. Hence they 
were said to feed upon air. In this state of distension and 
semi-transparency, the skin becomes easily affected by every 
change in the circulation ; and consequently a change of 
color is produced by the varying wants and passions of the 
animal, which influence both the quantity of respiration and 
the tint of the blood. 

A few animals of the lizard kind are remarkable for their 
very short legs, and long slender bodies, giving them the ap- 
pearance of serpents with feet, for which they have sometimes 
been mistaken. 

Ill, Ophidia. The serpents are distinguished by their 



64 CLASS III. REPTILES. ORDER IV. BATRACHIA. 

long and slender bodies without limbs, and by the great ex- 
tensibility of their jaws, mouth, and throat, which enables 
them often to swallow animals of greater diameter than them- 
selves. They are always provided with teeth, which are 
sharp and bent backwards. 

They are divided, as is well known, into the venomous and 
those that are not venomous. The number of the latter kind 
is the greatest, and includes the largest animals. Among 
them are the great Boa constrictor, the Aboma, and the Ana- 
conda, which sometimes attain the length of thirty or forty 
feet, and inhabit marshy and fenny places in the tropical 
parts of America. They attach themselves by the tail to the 
branches of trees, leaving their bodies swinging in the air, 
in order to seize upon animals approaching them, which they 
generally swallow whole. The Ular Sawa, or the great Py- 
thon, is another serpent of the same kind and size, and in- 
habits the ancient continent. The smaller and less celebrated 
species are very numerous, and are distributed over every part 
of the earth. 

The venomous serpents are generally armed with fangs, for 
the specific purpose of infusing poison into the wounds they 
inflict. These fangs are situated in the upper jaw, and per- 
forated by a small canal, which, opening on their extremities, 
gives passage to a fluid, secreted by a gland under the 
eye. When the tooth pierces the flesh of any animal, a por- 
tion of this fluid is injected into the opening, and produces 
effects more or less dangerous, according to the virulence of 
the poison and the kind of animal wounded. When broken 
or injured, these fangs are renewed, and when not employed, 
are hidden from sight by a fold or projection of the gum. 
The largest and most celebrated of these animals is the rat- 
tlesnake of America. It is so called from a peculiar instru- 
ment at the end of its tail, denominated its rattle, which pro- 
duces a slight rustling sound, when it is shaken, and is 
intended to give warning of the animal's anger. This and 
the other venomous serpents are not malignant or ferocious 
in their dispositions, and seldom make use of their poison 
unless provoked. 

IV. Batrachia. The reptiles of this order have only one 
auricle to the heart, into which the veins from the lungs and 
from the body both enter. In it are included the toad, frog, 
salamander, and other similar animals. They are principally 
remarkable for a transformation which takes place in their 
offspring after leaving the egg. When first hatched, they 



CLASS IV. FISHES. 65 

are strictly an aquatic animal, and capable of breathing and 
living only under water. They are furnished with gills like 
a fish, and have no legs, but are provided witK a tail, which 
serves them as an instrument of locomotion. In this state 
they are seen by thousands, of a dark color, with round 
bodies, swimming about in brooks, and small ponds ; and are 
known by the familiar name of Tadpoles. After a certain 
period, their form and structure are altered ; their feet and 
legs grow, and project from beneath the skin ; their tail, their 
gills, and the covering of their head, fall off; they begin to 
respire by means of lungs ; and become, at length, animals 
capable of breathing only in the air. This transformation is 
not, however, in all cases complete. In two genera, the Pro- 
teus and the Siren, besides lungs, the gills are retained 
through life, and they are thus possessed of two distinct sets 
of organs of respiration. 



SECTION V. 

Class IV. Fishes, 

Pishes, being destined to inhabit only the water, are pro* 
vided with organs and a structure adapted to the element in 
which they reside ; and, since they cannot breathe air, of 
course some modification in the organs of respiration and cir- 
culation is required to enable them to perform those functions. 
The heart, in them, has only one auricle and one ventricle. 
The blood, coming from the body, is received into the auri- 
•cle, and transmitted by means of the ventricle to the gills, 
which perform the same office as lungs. These are situated 
upon each side of the neck, and consist of semicircular arches 
of bone or cartilage, to which are attached membranes, divided 
into little fibrils or fringes, to which the blood is distributed, in 
very small vessels, after it comes from the heart. Over the 
gills a constant current of water is passed, by the action of the 
mouth of the animal, which, by means of the air that it con- 
tains, exerts an influence over the blood circulating in them, 
and produces the same changes in it as are produced in the 
lungs of other animals by the air they breathe. From the 
gills, the blood does not return to the heart, but is collected 
into one large artery, which passes down along the spine, and 
6* 



68 



STUtJCTtRE OF FISHES. 



is distributed to the different parts of the body, whence it ig 
again returned to the heart by the veins. 

The whole structure of fishes is as clearly designed to attain 
the end of motion in the water, as the structure of birds is in* 
tended for motion in the air. They are destitute of limbs, and 
their motions are effected by means of their fins and tail, 
which act upon the water like oars, either propelling the ani- 
mal forward, or moving it upward, downward, or to either side. 

Fishes are covered with a thick, strong skin, and most of 
them with scales, which are arranged one over another in an 
imbricated form, like slate or shingles on the roof of a house. 
Their bodies are also invested with a covering of thin slime, 
or mucus, which defends them from the immediate contact 
of the water. Their forms vary exceedingly, and are much 
more numerous than those of the animals heretofore described. 
They vary also in size. Some are armed with strong, sharp 
spines ; some with a sword or saw ; and most of them with 
teeth. The latter, however, are not intended for the purpose 
of chewing, but merely for that of seizing and retaining prey, 
which is swallowed whole. A few are possessed of a very 
remarkable species of defence, which consists in the power of 
inflicting upon whatever living creature comes in contact 
with them, a powerful electrical shock. These shocks are 
so powerful, that, in South America, horses driven into the 
pools which fishes of this kind inhabit, have been stunned, 
and sometimes even killed. 

Fishes have but a small brain. They have the senses of 
seeing, hearing, smelling, and tasting. That of touch they 
probably possess but imperfectly, as they have no organ which 
seems intended for its exercise, except the snout and mouth, 
and in some species, a sort of feelers, growing around the 
mouth. Their skeleton is constructed of bones, generally, 
softer and less earthy than those of other animals, and indeed 
in some they are entirely cartilaginous. Their stomach and 
intestines are formed upon the same general plan with those 
of other vertebral animals, and digestion is carried on in the 
same general way. They feed principally upon other fishes, 
upon worms, and shell-fish. They are long-lived, attain to 
their full growth slowly, and exhibit but few signs of intelli- 
gence or remarkable instinct. 

Their constant residence in the water prevents that accu- 
rate knowledge of their character and habits of life, which 
would afford materials for a more copious detail. They are 
divided into orders and genera, according to certain differ- 



CLASS V. INSECTS. 67 

ences in the formation, structure, and situation of their mouth, 
gills, gill-covering, fins, &c. But an account of them here 
would be of little use or interest. 



SECTION VL 

Class V. Insects, 

The animals of this class^ although less complicated and 
perfect in their internal structure, than those of some of the 
following classes, are yet remarkable for a greater variety of 
powers and a more wonderful display of instinct and intelli- 
gence, than any other of the invertebral animals ; and they 
are, therefore, placed first among them in this description. 

Insects are destitute of a heart, but instead of it they have 
a vessel or reservoir situated along the back, extending from 
one end of their bodies to the other, and filled with a trans- 
parent, viscous fluid. This vessel undergoes an irregular 
contraction, which is supposed to be analogous to the con- 
tractions of a heart, No branches have been discovered go- 
ing off from it, and yet it is highly probable that this reservoir 
contains the blood or nutritious fluid of the animal, which is 
slowly conveyed, by absorption, to the various organs. In- 
sects have no particular organ for respiration, but their bodies 
are penetrated in every direction by tubes, called tracheae, 
which convey the air to every part These tubes com- 
municate externally by openings called stigmata. The blood, 
therefore, undergoes the changes wrought upon it by air, 
throughout its whole circulation. Instead of a brain and 
nervous system, they are furnished with two knotted cords, 
running the length of their bodies, which perform the same 
functions. They possess the senses of seeing, tasting, smell- 
ing, and feeling ; but organs of hearing, if they exist, have 
not yet been discovered. 

Being destitute of any internal skeleton, insects are pro- 
vided with a hard external covering, which serves to support 
their motions and protect their organs. The nature of this 
covering differs in different species ; in some it forms a com- 
plete shell or case of a horny or shell-like substance; and in 
others it consists merely in a tough, muscular coat, divided 
into rings, which surround the body. 

The greater part of insects are winged, but some are not 



88 CLASS V. INSECTS. 

so. Those which are not winged continue, during their 
whole existence, of the same form and structure as at birth, 
Those which are winged undergo certain metamorphoses, or 
changes of form, which will be hereafter described. They 
all have six legs, with the exception of the millepedes, which 
have always more ; and the number increases also with their age. 

The bodies of insects are divided into head, trunk, and 
abdomen. The head is attached to the trunk by a joint or 
articulation, which is movable in every direction. It is 
destitute of a brain, but is furnished with a mouth, eyes, 
and two antennse or feelers. These are a kind of filaments, 
composed of joints, varying much in form and length, prob- 
ably designed as the organs of the sense of touch, or of 
sensations still more delicate, and of a nature totally unknown 
to us. 

The mouth of insects varies much in its construction, 
according to the nature of their food. Some of them subsist 
only upon the juices of animal and vegetable substances, and 
have their lips arranged in the form of a tube or sucker ; 
some of them are armed with a sort of lancet, with which 
they are enabled to pierce the skin of animals ; some with a 
kind of beak ; and others with a trunk or proboscis, which in 
the butterflies is capable of being rolled up in a spiral form. 
The insects which subsist upon solid substances are provided 
with jaws, which generally act laterally instead of verti- 
cally, and serve to masticate their food. Beside these parts, 
many species are furnished with palpi, organs somewhat 
resembling the antennae in structure and appearance, but 
whose office is to bring the food to the mouth, and hold it, 
while the insect eats. 

To the trunk are joined the legs, and the wings when pres- 
ent. It is divided, in those that have only six legs, into three 
segments or divisions, to each of which one pair of legs is 
attached. The legs are composed of four parts, called the 
haunch, thigh, leg or shank, and foot; which resemble con- 
siderably the corresponding parts in the limbs of quadrupeds. 
They vary in different insects, according to their habits and 
modes of life. Thus, in the grasshopper, the hind pair are 
very long and strong ; in the aquatic insects, they are flattened, 
in order to answer the purpose of oars. The wings differ 
much in kind and arrangement, as well as in number. Most 
of the winged insects have four, but some only two. They 
are generally thin, dry, membranaceous, and semi-transparent. 
In the butterfly the membrane forming the w r ing is concealed 



STRUCTURE OF INSECTS. 69 

hy a covering of small scales, which appear to be merely a 
loose powder, but are in fact fixed by small pedicles or stalks 
to the membrane itself. They give to those insects their 
beauty and variety of color. The insects with one pair of 
wings have underneath them two cylindrical projections ter- 
minating in a knob, which seem as if they were the rudiments 
of a second pair. These have been called balancers or poisers, 
from being supposed to aid them in preserving an equilibrium 
during their flight. Between them and the wings themselves 
are found small membranous scales, one upon each side, 
against which the balancer strikes with great rapidity whilst 
the insect is in motion, and causes that buzzing which is then 
observed. In the various kinds of beetle and other similar 
insects, the upper pair of wings is of a coriaceous or horny 
texture, and serves merely the purpose of a case under which 
the other pair is folded up and protected. In others, as in 
the grasshopper, the locust, &c, the upper pair is less hard, 
and has rather the consistence and texture of vellum. 

The abdomen forms the hinder part of the bodies of insects ; 
it contains the organs of digestion, and is the part from which 
the eggs of the insect are produced. It is divided into a 
number of rings or segments. In some, it is furnished with a 
kind of perforator or auger, with which various substances are 
bored in order to admit their eggs. In many it is terminated 
by a sting, as in the wasp and bee, and in others by a forceps, 
a bristle, or a kind of claw. They display much instinctive 
intelligence in the deposition of their eggs, placing them in 
situations best adapted to the nourishment and preservation 
of their young when hatched, and in some cases even provi- 
ding food for their immediate wants when they first come 
into life. 

The greater part of insects, as has just been remarked, 
after leaving the egg, undergo certain changes of structure 
and form, before arriving at their perfect state. These changes 
are called their metamorphoses. They differ in number in 
different kinds of insects. 

To take the Butterfly tribe for an example. From the egg 
of this insect is hatched an animal differing entirely from its 
parent. Its body is long and cylindrical, and divided into a 
great many rings. It is provided with a large number of very 
short legs, with jaws, and with several small eyes. It is famil- 
iarly known to us by the name of caterpillar. It lives in this 
state a considerable time, subsisting upon such food as is 
adapted to its nature. At length it casts off its skin, and 



70 CLASS V. INSECTS, 

appears in another form without limbs. It ceases to feed or 
to move. It seems to be totally without life. This is called 
the chrysalis. After a while, by examining it closely, the imper- 
fect shape of the butterfly may be distinguished through its 
surface; and finally the envelope is broken, and the animal 
escapes. Its wings are at first short, weak, and moist, but 
they soon unfold to a greater size, and become strong ; and 
the insect is in a state to fly. It has now six long legs, a 
spiral trunk, two antennae, and eyes dhTering entirely from 
those of the caterpillar. In short, it is an animal totally dif- 
ferent ; and yet these wonderful changes are only the succes- 
sive unfolding of parts contained one within another in the 
original embryo. 

In the first state, the animal is called the larva ; in the 
second, the nympha or chrysalis ; and the third is called the 
perfect state. 

A considerable proportion of the insect tribes pass through 
these three stages of existence. But many only undergo what 
is called a demi-metamorphosis. Their larva resembles the 
perfect insect, except that it is without wings. And the only 
change they experience is, that in the nymph state they have 
stumps or rudiments of wings, which finally, on casting their 
skin, are changed into complete ones. Such are grasshoppers 
and many kinds of bugs. Insects without wings undergo none 
of these alterations. 

A more detailed account of the phenomena attending the 
metamorphosis of Insects will be found in a subsequent part 
of this volume.* 

There are few vegetable substances which escape the dep- 
redations of insects ; and sometimes their ravages produce 
very serious evils. Some good as well as evil, however, may 
be attributed to their agency. Many of them feed upon putrid 
animal or vegetable matters, whose effluvia might otherwise 
become dangerous or fatal. Others are made use of in med- 
icine, in the arts, and sometimes even as food for man. They 
serve as nourishment for many species of animals*: Beasts, 
birds, reptiles, and fishes, equally make them their prey ; and 
thus prevent their multiplication to such an extent as to prove 
a permanent evil to mankind. 

It only remains to give some general account of the orders 
under which insects have been arranged, and the principles 
upon which naturalists have proceeded in making the distri- 
bution of them. 

* See chapter on the Transformation of Animals, 



ORDER OP INSECTS. 71 

The divisions of Linnaeus are founded upon the presence or 
absence of wings, their number, their texture, their arrange- 
ment, and the nature of their surface ; and upon the existence 
or absence of a sting. He forms seven orders.* 

I. Coleoptera, The upper pair of wings in the Coleop- 
terous insects consists of a crustaceous or horny substance. 
These cover and defend the other pair, which are of a more 
soft and flexible texture, and are folded beneath them. This 
is the most numerous and best known kind of insects ; and 
many of them are very remarkable for the singularity of their 
forms and the beauty of their colors. It includes the various 
insects known under the names of beetles, winged bugs, &,c. 
They all undergo a complete metamorphosis. 

II. The Hemiptera have likewise four wings ; but the 
upper pair is not of so hard a texture as those of the Coleop- 
tera. They are more like fine vellum, and, at their extremities, 
terminate with a membranous edge, which resembles the sub- 
stance of the under pair. They cover the body horizontally, 
and do not meet in a straight line or ridge, as they do in the 
beetles. Insects of this order undergo only a demi-metamor- 
phosis. Among them are found the grasshopper, the cricket, 
the locust, the cockroach, and many kinds of bugs. 

III. The order Lcpidoptera contains the various kinds of 
butterfly, sphinx, and moth. Those of the first kind fly in the 
day time ; those of the two other kinds only in the night. 
They all have four wings, the structure and appearance of 
which have been alluded to. Among them are some of the 
most beautiful and splendid of insects, and they form some 
of the richest ornaments of the cabinet of the naturalist. 
They all pass through a complete series of metamorphoses ; 
and their larvge, known under the name of worms or caterpil- 
lars, spin webs for their covering while in the chrysalis state. 
It is from the web, thus prepared by the silkworm for its resi- 
dence during this dormant state of existence, that the silk 
of commerce is prepared. 

IV. Neuroptera. This is another order with four wings. 
They are membranaceous, naked, and so interspersed with 
delicate veins, that they have the appearance of a beautiful 
network. The tail of the Neuroptera has no sting, but that 
of the male is frequently furnished with a kind of forceps or 

* This account of the classification of Insects is taken principally from Smellie, 
who follows Linnseus, because, to the general reader, it affords, upon the whole, a 
clearer view of the subject than could be presented in the same compass by follow- 
ing the later and more strictly anatomical methods of other naturalists. 



72 CLASS V. INSECTS, 

pincers. Of this order are the various species of Dragon-fly,, 
large and well-known insects that frequent lakes and pools of 
stagnant water, in which the female deposits her eggs : the 
Ephemera, insects which pass two or three years in the states 
of larva and chrysalis, but whose existence as winged and 
perfect insects is limited to a single day ; and the Ant-lion 
and the Termites : the former is celebrated as the destroyer 
of the common ant, and the latter for the ravages they make, 
in the state of larva, in some tropical countries. The Neu- 
roptera do not all pass through a complete metamorphosis, a 
part of them undergoing only a partial change of form, 

V. The Hymenoptera have four naked membranaceous 
wings, but they have not that delicate, netted structure, which 
belongs to the last order. The bodies of the females are ter- 
minated by a borer or perforator, or by a sting. These insects 
all undergo a complete metamorphosis ; but there are, in the 
domestic economy and mode of propagation of some of the 
species, circumstances which excite our admiration and as- 
tonishment. The ant, wasp, and bee, belong to this order. 
They live in societies, greater or less in extent and number, 
and prepare habitations and nourishment for themselves and 
their offspring, with a forethought and provident care excelled 
only by those of man himself. In some of the tribes of insects 
of this kind, there is, beside the males and females, a third 
sort, called neuters, as among the ants and bees* Sometimes 
the neuter, and sometimes the female, is without wings, and 
sometimes without a sting. A more particular account of 
these insects will be given hereafter. Besides the above-men- 
tioned, there is found in this order a variety of singular ani- 
mals ; and among others, the ichneumon-fly and the saw-fly, 
which, by means of their instruments for boring, in some con- 
structed in the form of a saw, insert their eggs in the wood, 
leaves, and fruit of plants, or in the eggs, larvse, or nymphae 
of other insects. 

VI. The Diptera have only two wings, but beneath them 
are the balancers or poisers, which have been already men- 
tioned. Their mouths are frequently armed with lancets and 
suckers, by means of which they pierce the skin of animals 
and feed upon their blood. To this order belong some of the 
most troublesome and annoying of the whole animal creation, 
viz. the various species of gnat and gad-fly, the musqueto, the 
common house-fly, the horse-fly, &c. They attack both men 
and other animals, and are found in almost every part of the 
globe. Their larvae are deposited in the skins and intestines 
of brute animals, sometimes even in those of men, in putrid 



ORDERS OF INSECTS. 73 

meat, in cheese, in manure, in water, in mud, &,c. They 
pass through a complete metamorphosis, 

VII. Aptera. In this order is included a great variety of 
insects that are destitute of wings. It is true that in the pre- 
ceding orders are arranged many sorts of insects, which are 
destitute of wings ; but they are so arranged, because, in their 
general structure and habits of life, they resemble the other 
members of the order. The Aptera, however, have no such 
resemblance, and are therefore placed by themselves. Some 
naturalists divide them into several orders, according to their 
natural connections with one another ; but this is not necessary 
here. Among them are found the millepedes, whose body is 
divided into a great number of rings, each of which serves 
for the attachment of one or more pairs of legs ; the louse, of 
which there are many kinds which infest the bodies of men, 
inferior animals, and plants ; thepuceron, &,c. Some of these 
animals cover the surface of plants so completely, as to pro- 
duce the appearance of a diseased change of structure. The 
flea also belongs to this order, and is the only one that under- 
goes any metamorphosis. It passes through the three stages. 
Its power of leaping to a great distance is well known. 

The family of the Arachnides, or Spiders, is not always ar- 
ranged among Insects, and strictly speaking, their structure 
is different in some important particulars. We shall, however, 
give some account of them in connection with the Aptera, 
among which they were included by Linnaeus. This family 
comprehends, besides the common spiders, the scorpion, the 
tarantula, the crab-scorpion, the various species of mites, and 
the animal which has been supposed to cause the Psora or 
itch, by insinuating itself beneath the skin. 

They are distinguished from all other insects by the absence 
of the antennae. A part of them breathe like insects by 
means of tracheae distributed throughout their bodies ; while, 
in the rest, the tracheae open into pulmonary sacks, which 
answer the purpose of lungs. In the latter, there is found a 
well-organized heart and a vascular circulation, which are 
absent in the former. They have generally eight legs, and 
are furnished with six or eight eyes, which enable them to 
perceive objects in several different directions at once. They 
are nourished generally by living prey, and are provided with 
means for securing and destroying it. The Spider effects this 
by means of the web that it spins, in the construction of which 
much ingenuity is often manifested. The threads of which 
it is composed, are produced from six little fleshy bunches, 
7 



74 CLASS VI. CRUSTACEA. 

situated at the lower extremity of their bodies, which are 
perforated with an immense number of little holes. By means 
of their webs, many species of spiders, particularly when 
young, are able to transport themselves to a considerable dis- 
tance through the air. In order to effect this, they ascend 
some eminence, and throw out a number of webs ; these are 
raised up and carried along by the wind, and the animal, be- 
ing buoyed up by them, is conveyed sometimes to a great 
height. In order to alight, they have only to disengage them- 
selves from a part of their web, and suffer themselves to de- 
scend gradually to the ground. It is probable that they have 
recourse to this expedient, in part at least, for the purpose of 
catching insects for food. In autumn, the air is often full of 
the cobwebs which have been made use of for this singular 
mode of conveyance ; and those who have ascended emi- 
nences for the purpose of observing this phenomenon, have 
frequently seen spiders floating by in the air, supported in the 
manner just now described. 

Many branches of this family are exceedingly cruel and 
ferocious, not sparing even their own species. The bite of 
many of them is poisonous, particularly that of the tarantula 
and the scorpion. They undergo no metamorphosis, but shed 
their skins several times. A few receive an additional pair 
of legs at some time after birth. 



SECTION VII. 
Class VI. Crustacea. 

The Crustaceous animals have been sometimes included in 
the class of insects, to which they have indeed many strong 
points of resemblance. They deserve, however, a separate 
consideration, both on account of their size and importance, 
and of some anatomical differences of structure, which will be 
pointed out. Among the most familiar examples of this class 
are the lobster, crab, crawfish, and what is usually called the 
horse-shoe. 

They have articulated limbs, antennae, and jaws, similarly 
formed to those of insects. But they breathe by means of 
branchiae or gills, and have a regular double circulation ; in 
which particulars they differ from insects. The blood which 
has passed through the gills, is collected into one large vessel. 



STRUCTURE OF THE CRUSTACEA. 75 

that distributes it to the whole body. On its return from the 
vessels of the body, it is collected into another vessel situated 
near the back, and performing in some measure the office of a 
ventricle, and is again sent to the gills. Their nervous sys- 
tem, and the degree of sensation they enjoy, are not essentially 
different from those of insects. 

They are covered by a pretty thick, firm shell, which en- 
velops them completely. This serves for a shelter and pro- 
tection to their soft parts, and also answers to them the same 
purpose, as an instrument of motion, that the internal system 
of bones does to the vertebral animals. As this shell is inca- 
pable of growth, it is occasionally changed, to make room for 
the constant increase in size of the animal. It is thrown 
off, and their bodies remain for a time entirely naked, and 
exposed in a soft and defenceless state. In this case the ani- 
mal generally retires to some place of concealment and secu- 
rity, and remains till the shell is restored. This is done by 
the deposition of calcareous matter on the external membrane 
of the skin, which consequently becomes hard and firm, and 
finally takes the place of the old shell. 

The Crustacea have always as many as six claws, and fre- 
quently more. The two anterior ones are often prolonged, 
enlarged, and armed with teeth, so as in some measure to act 
in assisting the jaws. Their antennae, as those of insects, are 
probably intended to serve as very delicate organs of touch. 
They possess the sense of smelling, but naturalists have not 
been able to satisfy themselves in what organ it resides. 
The organ of hearing has been discovered. Their eyes are 
not placed loosely in a socket, but are fixed and immovable ; 
and, to remedy the inconvenience which would result from this 
arrangement, they are, in some species, situated upon the end 
of a pedicle or stalk, which is capable of motion in every 
direction. 

The stomach of some of the Crustacea presents a very sin- 
gular and remarkable structure. It is exemplified particularly 
in the crab, lobster, crawfish, and others of the same kind ; 
and is found in no other animals of any class. Near the lower 
end of the stomach, where it begins to grow narrow, are sit- 
uated a number of teeth, or substances of a bony nature re- 
sembling teeth, generally five in number. They are placed 
upon the opposite sides of the organ, and, being moved by 
muscles belonging to them, they grind up thoroughly the food 
passed between them, which then goes out at the orifice into 
the intestines 



76 CLASS VII. MOLLUSCA. 

The animals of this class reside, for the most part, in the 
water. A few are found upon land. The former do not im- 
mediately die on being taken out of their natural element, but 
can live for some time in the air. They are generally carniv- 
orous. Many of them furnish very delicious articles of food, 
although their flesh is ordinarily heavy and difficult of di- 
gestion. 



SECTION VIII. 
Class VII Mollusca. 

This is a large and extensive class, embracing a great va- 
riety of animals, whose structure, residence, and habits, are 
but obscurely and imperfectly known. Among them are the 
cuttle-fish, squid, oyster, clam, muscle, snail, and, in short, 
nearly all the testaceous animals, or shell-fish, as they are usu- 
ally called, although they have no resemblance to fishes, and 
do not all inhabit the water. As it respects their internal 
structure and organization, they are undoubtedly superior to 
the two classes last described ; but in regard to intelligence 
and instinct, they are, upon the whole, inferior, and are not 
subjects of so much interest. 

The Mollusca are destitute of bones and of articulated 
limbs. Their bodies are generally of a soft texture, and fre- 
quently, at first sight, appear to be little else than a simple 
mucous mass, without parts, and almost without organization. 
Their muscles are fixed into the skin, which is naked, very 
sensible, and constantly moistened by a fluid furnished by its 
pores. The contractions of these muscles produce certain 
obscure and indistinct motions of their whole bodies, by means 
of which they are enabled to swim and crawl, or even seize 
those objects which are adapted to their nourishment. But 
as no part is supported by any solid foundation, like the bones 
of vertebral animals, their motions are generally slow, awk- 
ward, and limited. 

Their bodies are generally covered by a fold or reflection 
of the skin, which envelops them completely, and is called 
their mantle. In some species, the two folds of the mantle 
are united at their edges, so as to form a complete bag, in 
which the body of the animal is contained, opening only at 
one end by a sort of canal or snout : in some, it extends in 



STRUCTURE OP MOLLUSCA. 77 

two opposite directions, so as to answer the purpose of fins 
or oars. Sometimes there is only this simple membranaceous 
covering ; but more frequently there is a hard* external shell, 
which serves as a retreat into which the animal may with- 
draw itself, and which it can carry about upon its back in 
all its changes of place. These shells differ a good deal in 
shape, color, and texture, in different species : and among 
them are found some, whose form, polish, and splendid tints, 
place them among the most beautiful objects in nature. 

The Mollusca. have no brain nor spinal marrow. Their 
nervous system consists merely of a number of nervous masses, 
distributed in different parts of their bodies, from which are 
sent out a great many small branches, that mutually unite with 
each other. The principal of these, which is sometimes 
called the brain, is situated round the oesophagus, and envel- 
ops it like a collar. In a few species it is contained in a car- 
tilaginous case. Their respiration is not uniform. It is gen- 
erally carried on by organs resembling the gills of fishes, which 
are acted upon either by fresh or salt water ; but, in some 
cases, air is respired directly from the atmosphere. The cir- 
culation is always double ; that is to say, there is a passage 
of the blood through the respiratory organs, distinct from that 
through the rest of the body. This circulation is carried on 
by either one or more hearts. When there is only one, it is 
situated so as to receive the blood from the gills, and circulate 
it through the body. When there are two, the second is 
situated so as to circulate through the gills the blood coming 
from the body. In some species, there are three hearts ; and 
in this case, as there are two sets of gills, a distinct heart is 
devoted to each. The blood in the Mollusca is thin, of a 
bluish white, and always cold. 

The organs of digestion vary very much. Sometimes there 
are organs for mastication, and sometimes not. Some species 
have only a single stomach, and others have several ; the 
structure of this organ, in some species, very much resembling 
that of the gizzard of birds. In some species there are four 
stomachs, which bear a great analogy to those of the rumina- 
ting animals, and have been supposed to answer a similar pur- 
pose. In the intestines there is as great a variety. 

This class is divided into several orders, according to the 
general form and structure of the species composing it. A 
few of the most important particulars that distinguish them 
will be pointed out. 

In the first order, containing the cuttle-fish, squid, nauti- 
7* 



78 CLASS VII* MOLLfcSCA* 

lus, &,c, the body consists of a sack formed by the mantle* 
enveloping all the parts except the head, which projects from 
it, and is provided with a number of fleshy arms or feet, ta- 
pering towards their end, frequently of great length and of 
great power* These arms are capable of being moved in 
every direction, and are furnished with a large number of 
suckers in the form of cups, by which the animal can attach 
itself very closely to whatever object it embraces. They 
serve for swimming, for creeping, and for seizing prey. In 
all it3 motions, the head goes last, so that the animal in a 
manner pushes itself backward in whatever direction it wishes 
to move. Between the arms is placed the mouth, which is 
furnished with two strong jaws of a horny texture, and in 
shape resembling the beak of a parrot. 

These animals have the power of ejecting a peculiar liquid 
of a black color, when in any danger, for the purpose of dis- 
coloring the water of the sea around them, and thus conceal- 
ing themselves from their enemies. The cavity containing 
this liquid is situated in the abdomen, and is sometimes found 
in the very substance of the liver. It has been supposed, 
that the celebrated paint called Indian ink, is made by the 
Chinese from the inky fluid of some animal of this kind. 

Their eyes are large and perfect. They have an ear ; but 
no organ for smelling has been discovered, although they prob- 
ably possess that sense. Their nature is fierce and cruel. 
They are very voracious, and devour great numbers of fishes, 
and other aquatic animals. 

Some of the animals of this order grow occasionally to an 
immense size. This is more particularly the case with the 
eight-armed cuttle-fish. In the Indian seas, it is said to at- 
tain to such a magnitude, that its arms are nine fathoms in 
length, and the other parts of its body large in proportion. 
The natives hold it in great dread, fearing that it will lay 
hold of their boats, and drag them under water. They keep 
themselves provided with hatchets, to cut off its arms, should 
any danger arise from this c*ause.* 



* An account of an enormous animal, which was probably of this kind, is found 
in the works of Pliny, who cites it from a writer named Trebius. This animal made 
its appearance on the coast of Carteia, and was in the habit, during the night, of 
robbing of their contents certain reservoirs of salt-fish, which were situated near the 
sea-side. Its depredations were not prevented by a row of stakes which were so 
planted as, to intercept communication with the sea. It was found that the animal 
made use of a tree, which grew near the stakes, to assist it in climbing over them, 
and it was finally attacked, while in the reservoir, by a number of dogs and men. 
It made a powerful resistance, and lashed the dogs smartly with its arms, but was 



STRUCTURE OF THE MOLLUSCA. 79 

In another order, which includes the snail and the greater 
part of cockles, the foot, or instrument of motion, is placed 
under the belly of the animal, and consists ©f a fleshy plate 
or disk, protected underneath by a layer of a horny or calca- 
reous substance, which, when the animal retreats into its 
shell, serves to close up its opening. Their mantle is fixed 
upon the back, and covers more or less of the body, the head 
also being partly enveloped by it. The mouth has generally 
a few tentacula or feelers beneath it, but they are sometimes 
wanting. The eyes are very small, sometimes fixed to the head, 
and sometimes situated upon the end of the tentacula ; but 
they are also sometimes wanting. These animals are almost 
always furnished with shells, which serve them as a residence. 

The Mollusca of another order, including the oyster, the 
clam, the quahog, the muscle, and, in short, all the bivalve 
shell-fish, have no apparent head, but only a mouth surrounded 
by four tentacula, and situated beneath the folds of their 
mantle. The mantle is generally composed of two folds, 
which inclose the body between them, as a book is contained 
within its covers. Sometimes the edges of the two folds are 
united together, and form a complete sack. In the clam, 
this sack terminates in a long, double, fleshy tube, which is 
usually called the head of the animal, but in fact serves a 
totally different purpose; one of the tubes being for the 
entrance of the water which supplies the gills in respiration, 
and the other serving as the termination of the intestinal 
canal, and the mouth of the animal being situated at that 
part of the body which corresponds to the other extremity of 
the shell. 

The Giant Clam is the largest of the Mollusca, with a tes- 
taceous covering. Its shell is more than three feet long, and 
its body forms a meal for a great number of persons. It is 
found in the Indian seas, and in different parts of the Pacific 
ocean. 

Many of the animals of this kind are furnished with an 
organ denominated their foot, consisting of a fleshy mass 
attached to their body, whose motions are produced like those 
of the tongue of quadrupeds. This foot often gives rise to a 
number of filaments or threads, by which the animal is capa- 
ble of attaching itself to rocks or other marine substances, 

finally killed. Its body was as big as a hogshead ; its arms, called its beards, were 
as big as a man could clasp, and thirty feet long ; and its cups or suckers held foui 
gallons each. It weighed 700 pounds. The Kraken has been supposed to be an 
animal of the same kind. 



80 CLASS VIII. VERMES OR WORMS. 

thus, as it were, being moored or anchored, and secured from 
the influence of the waves. The two valves of their shell are 
held together by strong muscles which pass from one to the 
other ; and when these are relaxed, the shells open mechani- 
cally, by means of an elastic substance placed in the hinge 
of the joint which connects them. 

There are several other orders of the Mollusca, but the 
characteristics by which they are distinguished are too obscure 
or minute to be here described. 



SECTION IX. 
Class VIII. Vermes or Worms. 

The term Vermes or Worms has been used with great 
vagueness in natural history, and employed to designate ani- 
mals to which the name was not appropriate- It is now, 
however, more restricted in its application, and is made to 
include only a small class of animals, which have some cir- 
cumstances in common with each of the three classes last 
described, but still not exactly resembling any. They are 
sometimes called, by way of distinction, Worms with red blood, 
as they are the only invertebral animals which have red blood ; 
and sometimes Annelides, from the structure of their body, 
which is of a cylindrical, elongated shape, divided into a great 
number of rings. 

Their nervous system resembles that of the Insects and 
Crustacea. Their organs of sense consist merely in some 
fleshy tentacula, which surround the mouth, and answer the 
purpose of feeling and touching. In some species, certain 
black points appear around the head, which have been sup- 
posed to be eyes, but this is doubtful. Their blood is nearly 
of the color of that of the vertebral animals, but not of so 
bright a red. It circulates in a double system of vessels, but 
there is no distinct, fleshy heart to give it motion. They 
breathe by means of branchiae, which are sometimes within 
and sometimes without their bodies. They have no limbs, 
but on each of the rings, of which their bodies are composed, 
are little bristly projections, which answer in some sort the 
purpose of feet. Their mouths are sometimes armed with 
jaws, and sometimes consist in a mere tube or sucker. 

Their bodies are soft and compressible. All, except the 



STRUCTURE OF WORMS. 81 

earth-worm, inhabit the water. Many of them bury them- 
selves in the sand ; others form themselves a sort of tube or 
habitation of sand, bits of dirt, gravel, or other materials ; 
and others exude from their surfaces a calcareous matter, 
which produces a shell around them. 

Among the animals belonging to this class are the earth- 
worm, the leech, and the hair-worm. 

The appearance of Earth-worms is familiar to all. They 
attain sometimes to the length of a foot, and have as many as 
a hundred and twenty rings, each of which is furnished with 
the little bristles or spines above mentioned. They emit 
through certain pores a slimy fluid, which lubricates their 
bodies, and thus gives them an easier passage through the earth, 
which they traverse in every direction. They feed upon roots, 
woody fibres, and the remains of animal and vegetable mat- 
ter. They swallow earth also in considerable quantity, but 
this is probably on account of the animal or vegetable matter, 
in a state of decomposition, which it may contain. When 
cut through the middle, each portion becomes a distinct 
individual. And in some worms nearly resembling the earth- 
worm, but residing in the water, the power of reproduction is 
nearly equal to that of the polypes. 

The Leech has three jaws, or rather lancets, with which it 
pierces the skin of animals, in order to suck their blood. 
Its tail is furnished with a shallow cup or disk, by which it is 
able to fix itself firmly to different objects, while obtaining 
its nourishment in this manner ; and by means of the same 
organ, it moves from place to place. There are several spe- 
cies of the leech, of which the medicinal leech is the most 
valuable, from the use made of it in local blood-letting. 
The horse-leech has the same power of drawing blood, but 
the wounds which it makes are sometimes poisoned, and fol- 
lowed by bad effects. 

The body of the Gordius, or Hair-worm, is long, shaped 
like a thread or hair, nearly smooth and round. It is a vulgar 
notion that the hair of the human head, or of a horse's tail, if 
thrown into the water, acquires life, and is converted into a 
worm. A species of the hair-worm, in Africa and the Indies, 
is extremely noxious. It is of a pale, yellowish color, and is 
frequently met with among the grass, especially when covered 
with dew. It often insinuates itself into the naked feet or limbs 
of children and unwary persons, where it produces an inflam- 
mation that is sometimes fatal. Great care and attention are 
required in extracting it ; for if it be broken during the ope- 



83 CLASS IX. ZOOPHYTES. 

ration, the part which remains in the flesh continues alive, 
and is quite as troublesome as the whole. Some naturalists 
consider these worms as properly belonging to the next class. 



SECTION X. 

Class IX. Zoophytes. 

The class of Zoophytes is the last division of the animal 
kingdom, and the lowest in the scale of the animated creation. 
It includes an immense number of individuals but obscurely 
and imperfectly known, and which have but few points of re- 
semblance and connection with one another. In general they 
have no nervous system, no complete vascular circulation, no 
distinct apparatus for respiration, and no sense but that of 
feeling, and perhaps that of tasting. This is not true, how- 
ever, without exception ; for in some instances, traces of a 
nervous system, of a circulation, and of respiratory organs, 
may be detected, as is particularly the case in the Echinoder- 
mata, the first order of Zoophytes. They are covered with a 
well-organized skin, and often with a sort of shell with points 
or spines. They have an internal cavity, in which are lodged 
several distinct intestines, and vessels which maintain an 
imperfect circulation. There are also distinct organs for 
respiration, and many filaments which probably perform im- 
perfectly the functions of a nervous system. To this order 
belong the sea-urchin, the common star-fish, the sea-egg, &,c. 
They are the most perfect of Zoophytes in their structure, 
and are endowed with a curious set of organs for the purpose 
of motion. Their shells are pierced with a large number of 
holes, regularly arranged, through which project the feet of 
the animal, or rather the instruments answering the purpose 
of feet. These are little hollow cylinders, composed of a 
membranous substance, and ending in a kind of knob, which 
is also hollow. They are filled with a liquid, which is fur- 
nished to them by reservoirs situated within the body. The 
animal at will can either lengthen these cylinders and dis- 
tend their extremities by forcing this liquid into them, or ex- 
haust it, and thus shorten and contract them. When it is 
exhausted, the knob or disk is drawn into a cuplike form, and 
thus may be firmly fixed to whatever object it is applied, like 
a cupping-glass ; and when the liquid is again thrown into it, 
it is again loosened. By this arrangement, which enables it 
to fix and loosen, and at the same time to lengthen and shorten 



STRUCTURE OP ZOOPHYTES. 83 

these organs of motion, the animal is enabled to move itself 
from plaGe to place. Some of the animals of this order are 
composed of several branches united together in one com- 
mon centre, like the spokes of a wheel ; and hence they are 
called star-fish, or more commonly five-fingers. Their mouth 
is in the centre, where the several branches meet Others are 
globular, and others oblong, like the sea-urchin and sea-egg. 

The Intestinal Worms belong also to the class of Zoophytes. 
Those which inhabit the bowels of children are well known. 
But there is scarce any animal which is not infested by one 
or more kinds of them. They can exist only within the bodies 
of the animals to which they belong, and it is seldom that the 
same species infests more than one kind of animal. They 
have no visible organs of respiration or circulation, and those 
of digestion are very imperfect and indistinct. They are not 
confined to the intestines, but are found in other canals and 
passages of the body, and even in the substance of parts, as 
in the liver, brain, and eye. The difficulty of accounting for 
their existence in these parts, has given rise to the opinion of 
some naturalists, that they are spontaneously engendered ; 
but it is known, with regard to many of them, that they pro- 
duce eggs, and a living offspring ; and it is contrary to all the 
analogy of nature to ascribe, in these obscure cases, to chance 
and the spontaneous operations of matter, the production of 
effects, which, in all other instances, are the result of a per- 
fect and wonderful adaptation of organs to the end in view. 

The Sea-nettles, or Sea-anemones, are still less perfect. 
Their bodies are circular, and in their centre is the mouth, 
which leads to several rude and imperfect cavities in the sub- 
stance of the animal, answering the purposes of stomach and 
intestines. They are generally found attached by their base 
to some rock or marine substance ; but this attachment is vol- 
untary, for they can at will disengage themselves. Generally, 
however, they perform no other motion than that of opening 
and closing their mouths, and extending the tentacula with 
which they are surrounded. With these they grasp animals 
coming within their reach, such as small fish, mollusca, 
worms, &,c. These they swallow, and after having digested 
their flesh, throw out their bones, shells, and other refuse 
matter by the same opening, which is their only one. 

The Medusae do not differ much from these, except that they 
are merely of a gelatinous, slimy consistence, and are never 
found fixed by their base. They are common, and are often 
seen in immense shoals. One species of them is vulgarly 
known by the name of sun-fish. 



84 CLASS IX. ZOOPHYTES, 

The Polypes have a hollow, cylindrical, or conical body, 
with one extremity open, which serves for their mouth, and 
is surrounded by a number of tentacula. The simple cavity 
thus formed constitutes their only organ, and performs all the 
functions of which they are capable. They seize their prey 
and convey it to their mouths with the tentacula, and, as their 
bodies are gelatinous and semi-transparent, the operation of 
digestion may be seen going on within. Many of the polypes 
have been celebrated on account of the fact, that when one 
is divided into several pieces, each piece becomes a distinct 
animal, perfect in all its parts. The immense beds of coral, 
and the different kinds of sponge, are nothing but the habita- 
tions of infinite numbers of these little animals, and are pro- 
duced by their labor. 

The Animalcules are animals still more minute, and are 
scarcely discernible except by the assistance of the micro- 
scope. Thousands of them are in this way brought to our 
view, of various shapes, sizes, and appearances. Most of 
them offer to the view merely a gelatinous mass, capable of an 
imperfect sort of motion. Some, however, present appearances 
of a structure which might give them a claim to a higher 
rank in the scale of beings, did not their minuteness prevent a 
proper examination. These animals are principally found in 
some animal and vegetable fluids and infusions, and hence 
have sometimes received the name of Infusoria. 



This completes a view of the whole animal kingdom, be- 
ginning with man, the most perfect member of it, and descend- 
ing to those obscure and minute creatures which are scarcely 
visible except with the assistance of the microscope. It will 
be observed, that one common plan pervades the whole ; that 
the same general objects are had in view, in the structure of 
every class, and that there is a general analogy in the methods 
employed for effecting these objects, although there is a great 
variety in the details ; that there is a grand simplicity in the 
design, though -a great diversity in the means. In short, not 
only in the structure of each individual animal, but in the 
wonderful manner in which that structure is varied to corre- 
spond to the nature, habits, and wants of the different classes, 
we may perceive the wisdom, the power, and the benevolence 
of that great Creator, who has devised and formed, and who 
continues to uphold, the myriads of animated beings with 
which the earth is filled. 



THE 

PHILOSOPHY 



OF 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



CHAPTER L 



OF RESPIRATION, 



* By the air is meant that common elastic fluid which en- 
velops the whole earth, and extends to a certain distance from 
its surface. It constitutes what is called the atmosphere. By 
its weight, its compressibility, and its pressure in all directions, 
it insinuates itself into every vacuity ; and its presence is ab- 
solutely necessary to the existence of every vegetable and ani- 
mal. In order, however, to understand the manner in which 
it contributes to the support of living things, it is necessary 
to give some account of its composition. 

' Although the air, as we breathe it, seems to be a simple 
and homogeneous fluid, yet it is in. fact composed of two dis- 
tinct constituent or elementary parts, upon the mixture or 
combination of which, its adaptation to the preservation of life 
depends; containing, besides, some other ingredients of minor 
importance. These main elements are two permanently elas- 
tic fluids or gases, called oxygen, and nitrogen or azote. At- 
mospheric air contains about twenty-three parts, by weight, of 
the former, and seventy-seven of the latter, out of one hun- 
dred ; or, since oxygen is the heaviest of the two gases, twen- 
ty-one, by measure of oxygen, and seventy-nine of azote. It 
is upon the oxygen of the air, that its fitness for supporting 
animal life depends; for, when an animal is confined in a 
small quantity of air till this is exhausted, it dies from suffoca- 
tion, although the azote remains unaltered. 

1 No animal can exist in an active state without air, but dif- 
ferent classes of animals diifer very much as to the manner in 
8 



86 RESPIRATION. 

which the function of respiration is performed The influence 
which the air exerts, is always upon the circulating fluid or 
blood. It produces some change in it, or imparts some prin- 
ciple to it, which renders it fit to be distributed to the body 
for its nourishment. In all the animals which have red blood, 
viz. the Mammalia, Birds, Reptiles, and Fishes, this change 
consists, so far as can be observed, in imparting to the dark- 
red or venous blood, which is sent to the lungs by the heart, 
a bright red or vermilion color. In this state, it is returned 
to the heart, and thence distributed throughout the body by 
the arteries. 

' In the Mammalia, the air is alternately drawn into the 
lungs, and expelled from them, by the action of the diaphragm 
and muscles of the ribs. This is called the inspiration and 
expiration of the air, and is constantly going on in order to 
produce the requisite change upon the blood, which is con- 
tiually passing through the lungs. In the greater part of the 
animals of this class, if this process be stopped but for a few 
moments, death is the inevitable consequence ; but in some 
species it may be suspended for a longer period. This is the 
case with the seal and the whale. Even men may acquire by 
habit the power of existing a considerable time without breath- 
ing, as is the case with the fishermen who dive for pearls ; * 
but many of the stories which have been related with regard 
to this subject, are probably destitute of foundation. 

* There are many other kinds of air or gas, which may be 
taken into the lungs, beside the atmospheric ; but no other 
which will support life. Even pure oxygen itself, and another 
gas which contains oxygen, although they will support life 
longer than any other kinds of air, will yet finally prove fatal. 
It is only when oxygen is combined with azote in the propor- 
tion above mentioned, that it is adequate to the continual 
support of life.f The quantity of air ordinarily contained in 



* ' The pearl-fishers have been said to remain half an hour or more under water. 
The accounts, however, which state so extraordinary a fact as this, must be looked 
upon with great doubt. It seems impossible from what we know on the subject, 
that any human being could exist and remain capable of action under water, more 
than a few minutes. '" 

f c Water destroys the life of animals merely by preventing the admission of air; 
jt does not itself enter the lungs, or at most only in a very small quantify. There 
are some gases which operate in the same way. The windpipe is spasmodically 
closed against them, and they do not enter the lungs ; such are carbonic acid gas, 
ammoniacal gas, chlorine or oxymuriatic gas, &c, when unmixed. Other gases arS 
inspired with sufficient ease, but produce death, either merely for the want of oxy- 
gen, as hydrogen and pure azote j or, in a certain sense, by poisoning the blood or 
destroying its vital properties, as carburetter! and sulphuretted hydrogen, and car- 
bonic oxide. Oxygen alone, as has been remarked above, and nitrous oxide, which 



RESPIRATION. 87 

the lungs of a common-sized man, immediately after an in- 
spiration, has been calculated to be about two hundred and 
eighty cubic inches, and about forty inches are drawn in and 
thrown out at each inspiration and expiration ; so that the 
whole mass of air is not changed at every breath, but a large 
proportion remains constantly present, and distends the lungs. 

* If the air which has been respired be examined, a change 
will be found to have taken place in its composition. A part 
of its oxygen has disappeared, and in its place is found about 
the same bulk of carbonic acid or fixed air. There is also a 
considerable quantity of watery vapor. This change is un- 
doubtedly connected with the effect produced upon the color 
of the blood in respiration ; and many have endeavored to 
give some account of the mode in which it takes place. But 
it is a process which we shall probably never be able fully to 
understand. A similar change is produced upon the air re- 
spired by all animals of whatever class. 

' Respiration has been supposed to be the cause of animal 
heat. Various opinions have been advanced to account for 
the manner in which it maintains the temperature of our 
bodies. None of them, however, seem perfectly satisfactory. 
It appears undoubtedly to have some very close connection 
with respiration, and dependence upon it ; for the degree of 
heat in animals is generally proportioned to the vigor and 
quantity of respiration. The temperature of birds is higher 
than that of man, and they consume a greater quantity of air. 
Reptiles and fishes have cold blood, and the amount of respi- 
ration in them is comparatively small. The same remark is 
true of all cold-blooded animals. But we are not yet ac- 
quainted with the exact nature of the connection between 
respiration and animal heat.* 

' Respiration commences immediately after birth, and at 
the same time a change is produced in the course of the cir- 



contains a greater proportion of it than atmospheric air, are capable of supporting 
life for a considerable period, but finally prove fatal. The latter is celebrated for its 
intoxicating and exhilarating effects, when respired.' 

* ' Animal heat has been supposed to arise from a chemical action taking place in 
the lungs at the time of the change of venous blood into arterial, in the same way 
that heat is produced by many other chemical operations ; but if this were true, the 
lungs ought to be hotter than any other part of the body, which is not the case. It 
has been also supposed to arise from a greater capacity for caloric in the arterial, 
than in the venous blood, in consequence of which, heat would be developed when 
the change from the former to the latter takes place in the capillary vessels of the 
body. This is more probable, but still hardly satisfactory. Neither of these hy- 
potheses accounts for the independent temperature of eggs, which resist cold so long 
as they retain their life ; nor for the power in men of resisting very high degrees of 
heat, with hardly any increase of the temperature of their bodies.' 



CO RESPIRATION. 

ciilaticm. Before birth, only a very small proportion of the 
blood is carried through the lungs ; but after birth, and 
through life, the whole of it. The connection between the 
action of the lungs and that of the heart is very close and 
important. The functions they perform are mutually depend- 
ent, and neither can go on alone. If the circulation cease 
by the cessation of the action of the heart, respiration is im- 
mediately interrupted. If, on the other hand, respiration be 
impeded, the heart does not stop at once; but as the dark, 
venous blood is no longer changed in its properties, as usual, 
in the lungs, it is returned to the heart in the same state, and 
is then sent throughout the body ; and being totally unfit for 
the purposes of life, destroys it, by cutting short the action of 
all the organs. The effect of its contact upon the brain is 
an immediate suspension of life ; and if the cause be long 
continued, it is never restored. But in many cases of this 
kind, as in persons apparently drowned, circulation and respi- 
ration may be renewed, if they have not been too long inter- 
rupted, by blowing air into the lungs, and by the application 
of warmth and stimulating substances to the body. 

* Beside these uses of the function of respiration, it is made 
subservient to a number of other important purposes. All 
animals furnished with lungs, express their wants, their affec- 
tions and aversions, their pleasures and pains, either by words, 
or by sounds peculiar to each species. These are produced 
by different changes in the windpipe or canal through which 
the air is drawn into the lungs. The inferior animals are by 
this means enabled to maintain some sort of communication 
with others of the same species, and can, to a certain extent, 
convey information and express their affections and wants. 
But how far they are intelligible one to another, it is impos- 
sible to ascertain.' On man alone, nature has bestowed the 
faculty of speaking, or of expressing his various feelings and 
ideas, by a regular, extensive, and established combination 
of articulate sounds. To have extended this faculty to the 
brute creation, would not, it is probable, have been of any 
use to them ; for, though some animals can be taught to 
articulate, yet none of them seem to have any idea of the 
proper meaning of the words they utter. Speech is performed 
by a very various and complicated machinery. In speaking, 
the tongue, the lips, the jaws, the whole palate, the nose, 
the throat, together with the muscles, bones, &,c, of which 
these organs are composed, are all employed. This combi- 
nation of organs we are taught to use when so young, that 



RESPIRATION. Si* 

we are hardly conscious of the laborious task, and far less of 
the manner by which we pronounce different letters and 
words. The mode of pronouncing letters and words, how- 
ever, may be learned by attentively observing the different 
organs employed by the speaker. By this means we are 
enabled to correct the various defects of speech, and even to 
teach the dumb to speak ; for dumbness is seldom the effect 
of imperfection in the organs of speech, but generally arises 
from a want of hearing; and it is impossible for deaf men to 
imitate sounds which they never heard, except they be taught 
to use their organs by vision and by touching. 

When about to laugh, we make a very full inspiration, 
which is succeeded by frequent, interrupted, and sonorous 
expirations. When the titillation is great, whether it arises 
from the mind or body, these convulsive expirations some- 
times interrupt the breathing to such a degree as to endanger 
suffocation. Moderate laughing, on the contrary, produces 
health ; by agitating the whole body, it quickens the circula- 
tion of the blood, gives an inexpressible cheerfulness to the 
countenance, and banishes every kind of anxiety from the 
mind. 

In weeping, we employ nearly the same organs as in laugh- 
ing. It commences with a deep inspiration, which is suc- 
ceeded by short, broken, sonorous, and disagreeable expira- 
tions. The countenance has a dismal aspect, and tears are 
poured out. Weeping originates from grief, or other painful 
sensations either of body or mind. When full vent is given 
to tears, grief is greatly alleviated. Both laughing and weep- 
ing have been reckoned peculiar to man. But this notion 
seems not to be well founded. Though the other animals 
express not their pleasures or pains in the same manner as we 
do, yet all of them exhibit their pleasant or painful feelings 
by symptoms or cries, which are perfectly understood by the 
individuals of each species, and, in many instances, by man. 
A dog, when hurt, complains in the bitterest terms ; and 
when he is afraid, or perhaps melancholy, he expresses the 
situation of his mind by the most deplorable howlings. A 
bird, when sick, ceases to sing, droops the wing, abstains 
from food, assumes a lurid aspect, utters melancholy, weak 
cries, and exhibits every mark of depressed spirits. By this 
means, animals intimate the assistance they require, or soften 
those who maltreat them. Their plaintive cries are some- 
times so affecting as to disarm their enemies, or to procure 
the aid of their equals. On the other hand, when animals 
8* 



90 . ftES^IRAflOff, 

are pleased or caressed, they discover, by their countenance^ 
by their voice, by their movements, unequivocal symptoms of 
cheerfulness and alacrity of mind. Thus the expressions of 
pleasure and pain by brute animals, though not uttered in the 
precise manner with those of the human species, are perfectly 
analogous, and answer the same intentions of nature. 

By respiration and the instruments employed in the per- 
formance of it, the young of animals are enabled to extract 
milk from the breasts of the mother. By respiration, odors 
are conveyed to the nose ; and coughing, sneezing, yawning, 
sighing, singing, and many other functions of the animal 
economy, are at least partly accomplished. 

' The Respiration of Birds is carried on by an arrangement 
of the lungs very different from that of the Mammalia. They 
are enabled to transmit air to almost every part of their 
bodies, by means of membranous sacks or bags, which receive 
it from the lungs through certain orifices or passages on the 
surface of these organs. The lungs themselves are firmly 
attached to the ribs, and are almost incapable of dilatation or 
contraction, but the air passes through them into the sacks 
by the action of the abdominal muscles. In this way it is 
diffused not only throughout the thorax and abdomen, but ex- 
tends even to the cavities of many of the bones, which are 
distinguished from the others by their lightness, their white 
color, and the absence of any bloody matter or marrow in 
their cavities, 

I This provision answers probably several important pur- 
poses. It renders birds lighter, in proportion to their bulk, 
than animals whose bones are filled with marrow or other 
solid substances, and thus gives them some advantage in 
flight; and generally in birds of the longest and highest 
flight, as eagles, this extension or diffusion of air is carried 
farther than in others. But a more important object of it 
probably is, to contribute to the muscular strength of these 
animals, by producing a very extensive operation upon the 
blood. The motions of birds in flight require a much greater 
expenditure of power, than those of walking or running in 
other animals. This power depends upon the circulation of 
the red, arterial blood in the muscles which exert it, and in 
order to increase the proportion of this in the system, the 
influence of the air is carried over the whole system, instead 
of being confined to the lungs alone. It has been found that 
birds consume, in proportion to their size, more air than 
quadrupeds ; and this arises from its extensive influence upon 



RESPIRATION* 91 

the blood. Thus, two sparrows were found by Lavoisier to 
require as much for their existence as a Guinea-pig, an animal 
many times as large. Another use ascribed to this arrange- 
ment by Mr. Hunter, is that of acting, in some degree, as a 
ljgservoir of air, to prevent the necessity of frequent respira- 
tion, which may be supposed inconvenient to birds while mov- 
ing rapidly on the wing. 

' The voice of birds is more remarkable and beautiful than 
that of any other animal except man ; and on account of the 
large quantity of air which they have at command, it is very 
much more powerful* But the sounds uttered by man and 
quadrupeds are produced by an organ situated at the top of 
the windpipe, called the larynx, with the assistance of the 
mouth, at the top of the windpipe ; whilst, in birds, the organ 
of voice, or larynx, is situated at the spot where it divides into 
two parts to go to the lungs on each side, that is to say, at 
the bottom of the throat. The variations of note are pro- 
duced by a little membrane in the tube of the windpipe, which 
is made to vibrate by the air ; and by means of a number of 
little muscles, which either tighten or relax it, it is made to 
give the various notes. Hence, in singing, birds seldom close 
or make any motions with their beaks. That the voice is 
produced at this place, has been proved by cutting off the 
necks of some birds, which still retained the power of uttering 
their notes. The other parts of the windpipe are not, how- 
ever, without their use. Some changes of tone are produced 
by shortening or lengthening it, and others by contracting or 
enlarging its upper opening into the mouth. The instrument 
of voice, in fact, resembles in many respects a musical instru- 
ment, and the excellence and beauty of the notes of birds 
depend very much upon imitation and education. The night- 
ingale, if secluded in a cage when young, never sings so per- 
fectly as in the wild state, unless exposed in a place where it 
can hear the song of those which are at liberty. Many birds 
are capable of imitating a great variety of sounds, and some 
have been taught to sing very accurately tunes of human 
composition, merely by playing them upon some instrument 
in their hearing. , 

The lungs of Reptiles do not consist, like those of the 
Mammalia and Birds, of a solid organ penetrated in every 
direction by the air tubes, but of a number of bags of a mem- 
branous texture, into which the air is conveyed. In some, 
this is effected by the motion of the ribs and muscles of the 
abdomen, as in serpents and lizards. In others, as in frogs 



92 RESPIRATION- 

and tortoises, the air is swallowed. Respiration in these ani- 
mals is not performed so regularly and constantly as in the 
higher classes. Only a comparatively small proportion of the 
blood is subjected to the influence of the air, at once ; and 
they can subsist for a very considerable time without breath- 
ing, though its suspension at length destroys them. Tortoises 
have been known to live more than a month with their jaws 
tied closely together, and their nostrils filled with sealing- 
wax. A toad lived for five days in a jar containing about a 
hundred cubic inches of air. In forty inches, another toad 
lived for twenty-four hours, and a frog for fifty-nine. This is 
many times longer than a warm-blooded animal could exist 
under the same circumstances. 

i The temperature of the bodies of Reptiles is generally 
that of the air and water in which they are found. Still they 
have the power of resisting, during life, both very high and 
very low temperatures; and as their heat is seldom, under 
any circumstances, raised to a degree near to that of our 
bodies, they are designated as cold-blooded animals. This 
circumstance proceeds, probably, in some way from the limited 
quantity of their respiration ; and with the same cause is con- 
nected their slow and feeble motions, their tendency to the 
dormant state, and in general their low degree of vital power. 

' The Respiration of Fishes is carried on by means of gills 
or branchiae, to which the air is applied through the medium 
of the water. Every portion of water contains a certain quan- 
tity of air combined or mixed in some way with it, and by 
this means is made capable of supporting respiration. A cur- 
rent of water is constantly passed over the gills by the action 
of the mouth, and produces the requisite change upon the 
blood circulating through them. This change is of the same 
kind with that taking place in the warm-blooded animals. It 
arises from the influence of the oxygen in the atmospheric 
air; and if the water be examined, after fishes have respired 
it, the air it contains will be found to have undergone a simi- 
lar change of composition with that breathed by quadrupeds 
and birds.' 

When a free communication with the external air is pre- 
vented by ice, or by artifice, fishes immediately discover symp- 
toms of uneasiness, and soon perish. iEJian informs us, that, 
in winter, when the river Ister was frozen, the fishers dug 
holes in the ice; that great numbers of fishes resorted to 
these holes ; and that their eagerness was so great, that they 
allowed themselves to be seized by the hands of the fishermen 



RESPIRATION. 93 

Rondeletius made many experiments on this subject. If, says 
he, fishes are put into a narrow-mouthed vessel filled with 
water, and a communication with the air be ^preserved, the 
animals live, and swim about, not for days and months only, 
but for several years. If the mouth of the vessel, however, 
be closely shut, either with the hand or any other covering, 
so that the passage of the air is excluded, the fishes suddenly 
die. Immediately after the mouth of the vessel is closed, the 
creatures rush tumultuously, one above another, to the top, 
contending which of them shall soonest receive the benefit of 
the air. In the shallow parts of rivers, when frozen, many 
fishes are found dead. But, when parts of a river are deep 
or rapid, the fishes fly from the ice, and by this means avoid 
destruction. 

These, and similar experiments, have been repeated by Mr. 
Willoughby and many other modern authors ; and they have 
uniformly been attended with the same event. A carp, in a 
large vessel full of water, was placed in the receiver of an air- 
pump. In proportion as the air was exhausted by working 
the pump, the surface of the animal's body was covered with 
a number of bubbles. The carp soon breathed quicker, and 
with more difficulty. A little after it arose to the surface in 
quest of air. The bubbles on its surface next disappeared ; 
the belly, which before was greatly swollen, suddenly col- 
lapsed ; and the animal sunk to the bottom, and expired 
in convulsions. 

6 Air is distributed in the bodies of Insects by a great 
number of tubes or canals, called trachea, which convey it to 
every part. These communicate with the external air by 
means of openings called stigmata, which furnish a constant 
supply. That these organs are destined for the transmission 
of air, has been proved by repeated experiments; for when 
stopped up by the application of oil, or other unctuous sub- 
stances, the animals soon lose their existence. In some 
insects they protrude externally to some distance from the 
body, and have the appearance of one, two, or three tails ; and 
in others they arise from the back and sides.' 

In contemplating the parts of animals, when the uses of 
these parts are not apparent, we are apt to deceive ourselves 
by rashly supposing them to answer purposes for which they 
were never intended by nature. Impressed with this idea, 
M. de Reaumur was not satisfied with the notion of Godart 
and others, that the long tails of certain worms were intended 
to keep them steady in their motions, and prevent them 



94 RESPIRATION, 

from rolling. Reaumur observed, that these worms or grubs 
could lengthen or shorten their tails at pleasure, but that they 
were always longer than the animal's body. Because these 
tails have some resemblance to that of a rat, he distinguishes 
the animals by the name of rat-tailed ivorms. These worms 
are aquatic, and never appear on dry ground till they are 
about to undergo their first transformation. Reaumur, in 
order to observe their economy more closely, collected a 
number of rat-tailed worms, and put them into a glass vessel 
filled two inches high with water. At first they were consid- 
erably agitated, each seemingly searching for a proper place 
of repose. Some of them swam across, others attached 
themselves to the sides, and others rested at the bottom of the 
vessel. In a quarter of an hour they were almost entirely 
tranquil, and Reaumur soon discovered the real use of their 
long tails. Upon examining the vessel, he found that each of 
the animals, in whatever situation they were placed, extended 
its tail exactly to the surface ; that, like other aquatic in- 
sects, the respiration of air was necessary to their existence ; 
and that the tail, which is tubular, and open at the extremity, 
was the organ by which this operation was performed. In 
this experiment, the distance from the bottom to the surface 
was two inches, and, of course, the tails were of equal length, 
To discover how far the animals could extend their tails, he 
gradually augmented the height of the water, and the tails 
uniformly rose to the surface, till it was between five and six 
inches high. When the water was raised higher, the animals 
immediately quitted their station at the bottom, and either 
mounted higher in the water, or fixed upon the sides of the 
vessel, in situations which rendered it convenient for them to 
reach the surface with the points of their tails. These tails 
consist of two tubes, both of which are capable of extension 
and contraction. The first tube is always visible ; but the 
second, which is the proper organ of respiration, is exerted 
only when the water is raised to a certain height. Through 
this tube the air is conveyed into two large tracheae or wind- 
pipes within the body of the animal, and maintains the prin- 
ciple of life. When the tails are below the surface, they 
occasionally emit small bubbles of air, which are visible to 
the naked eye ; and immediately are extended to the surface 
for fresh supplies. These worms pass the first and longest 
part of their lives under water ; when near the time of their 
transformation, they leave the water, go under the ground, 
and are there transformed into chrysalids ; and. lastly^ from 



RESPIRATION* 95 

this state they are transformed into flies, and spend the re- 
mainder of their existence in the air. 

Another species of aquatic worms merits attention. They 
frequent marshes, ditches, and stagnating waters. Their gen- 
eral color is a greenish brown. Their bodies consist of 
eleven rings ; and their skin is not crustaceous, but rather 
resembles parchment. Though these animals, before their 
transformation into flies, live in water, air is necessary to sup- 
port their principle of life ; and the apparatus with which 
nature has furnished them for that important purpose, deserves 
our notice. The last ring or termination of their bodies is 
open, and serves as a conductor of air. From this last ring 
proceeds a number of hairs, which, when examined by the 
microscope, are found to be real feathers with regular vanes. 
In particular situations, they bend the last ring in such a 
manner as to reach the surface of the water or mud in which 
they are placed. These feathers prevent the water from en- 
tering into the tube, or organ of respiration; and, when the 
animal raises the termination of its body to the surface, in 
order to receive air, it erects and spreads the feathers, and 
by this means exposes the ends of the tube to the atmosphere. 
When cautiously cut open, two large vessels, or tracheae, ap- 
pear on each side, and occupy almost one half of the body. 
Both of these windpipes terminate in the open tube, or last 
ring. Though these worms are furnished with organs of res- 
piration, and actually respire air, yet M. de Reaumur discov- 
ered that some of them could live more than twenty-four 
hours without respiration. 

So anxious is Nature to provide animals, in every state of 
their existence, with air, that, after the transformation of many 
insects into chrysalids, she creates instruments for that pur- 
pose, which did not exist previous to their transformation. 
The rat-tailed worms, formerly mentioned, soon after they 
are transformed into chrysalids, instead of a soft, pliable skin, 
are covered with a hard, crustaceous substance, seemingly 
impervious to the air ; and the tail, which was the windpipe 
of the animal in its first state, gradually vanishes. In a few 
hours, however, four hollow horns shoot out, two from the 
fore, and two from the hind part of what was the head of the 
animal. These horns, which are hard and tubular, are discov- 
ered to be real windpipes, destined for the introduction of 
air into the chrysalis, a state in which the animals have the 
appearance of being almost totally dead, and, of course, 
would seem to have little use for respiration. It is likewise 



06 RESPfHATlON, 

discovered, that these horns, which pierced the hard exterior 
covering, terminate in as many tracheae in the body of the 
animal. This fact affords a strong example of the necessity 
of air for sustaining the principle of life, even in its lowest 
condition. After these animals pass from the chrysalis state 
to that of flies, they are deprived both of their tails and horns. 
But Nature, in this last stage of their existence, has not left 
them without proper resources for the introduction of air into 
their bodies. Instead of protuberant tracheae in the form of 
tails or horns, they now, like other flies, receive air by means 
of stigmata, or holes, variously disposed over different parts of 
the body 

The nymphs of the libella, or dragon-fly, respire water by 
an aperture at the termination of their bodies. These nymphs 
sometimes throw out the water, at certain intervals, with such 
force, that the stream is perceptible at the distance of two or 
three inches from their bodies. When kept some time out of 
the water, the desire or necessity of respiration is augmented ; 
and, accordingly, when replaced in it, inspirations and ex- 
pirations are repeated with unusual force and frequency. If 
you hold one of these nymphs in your hand, and apply drops 
of water to the posterior end of its body, it instantly, by an 
apparatus similar to the piston of a pump, sucks it in, and 
the dimensions of its body are visibly augmented. This water 
is again quickly thrown out by the same instrument. But 
though this insect respires water, air seems to be not the less 
necessary to its existence ; for, like other insects, the whole 
interior part of its body is amply provided with large and con- 
voluted tracheae ; and, externally, there are several stigmata 
destined for the introduction of air. 

The worms, or nymphs, of the ephemeron flies merit atten- 
tion. They have received the denomination of ephemeron y 
because very few of them survive the day in which they are 
transformed into flies. Many of them live not one hour after 
their transformation. When in the worm and nymph states, 
they generally live in holes near the surface of the water ; and 
under these two forms, continue to grow till they are mature 
for passing into the last and shortest period of their existence, 
Swammerdam informs us, that some of them remain three 
years under water, others two, and others one only. 

On each side of their bodies, there are six or seven protu- 
berances, which have the appearance of so many oars. With 
these instruments the animals describe arches in the water, 
first on one side, and then on the other, with astonishing ra- 



RESPIRATION. 97 

pidity. This circumstance led Clutius, and some other 
authors, to think that these protuberances were fins, or instru- 
ments of motion, and that the animals were fishes. But 
Reaumur remarked, that they moved these fins with the same 
rapidity when the animals were at rest, as when they were in 
motion ; and that, instead of fins, when examined by the mi- 
croscope, he discovered them to be gifts through which the 
creatures respire. Each gill consists of a short trunk, and 
two large branches or tubes, which give off on all sides a 
number of smaller ramifications, and are perfectly similar to 
the tracheae of other insects. At the origin of every gill, two 
tracheae penetrate the trunk, and are dispersed through the 
body of the animak 

{ The Crustacea, the Mollusca, and Worms, all respire by 
means of gills, which, although they differ in some measure 
from those of fishes, are formed upon the same plan. In a 
few instances they respire air by itself, but in general through 
the medium of water alone. In some animals of these classes 
the gills are situated upon the outside of their bodies, but 
commonly within. Zoophytes have distinct organs for respi- 
ration ; yet the air seems, in some way or other, absolutely 
necessary for their existence also, and probably penetrates 
their bodies, and acts upon their blood by means entirely un- 
known. These animals are all cold-blooded. 

' This chapter will be concluded by a few miscellaneous 
remarks relating to the respiration of different animals, and 
appearances connected with it/ 

Land-snails, at the approach of winter, bury themselves in 
the earth, or retire into holes of rocks, or of old buildings, 
where they remain in a torpid state during the severity of the 
season. For protection and warmth, these animals, when 
they go into their winter habitations, form, by means of a 
slime that issues from every pore of their bodies, a membra- 
nous cover, which stops up the mouths of their shells. But 
this pellicle or cover, though apparently pretty hard and solid, 
is so thin and porous as not entirely to exclude the en- 
trance of air, without which the principle of life could not be 
continued. Accordingly, when by accident the pellicle is 
made too thick, and prevents a communication with the ex- 
ternal air, the animal, to remedy the evil, makes a small aper- 
ture in its cover. In this state snails remain six or seven 
months, without food or motion, till the genial warmth of the 
spring breaks their slumber, and calls forth their active 
powers. Hence it would appear, that air is more immediately 
9 



yb RESPIRATION. 

necessary to the preservation of animal life than food itself; 
for, in numberless instances, animals can live, not for days or 
weeks, bat for months, without supplies of nourishment. 
None of them, however, are capable of existing nearly so 
long without having some communication with the air. 

With regard to the snails that live in fresh waters, or in 
the ocean, the species of which are numerous, their manner 
of respiring is singular. All of them have an aperture on the 
right side of the neck, through which they respire. They 
are frequently observed to straiten the orifice of this aperture, 
to stretch it out in the form of an oblong tube, and, in this 
state, they rise to the surface, in order to expel the former 
air, and take in a new supply. 

But, though air seems to be an indispensable principle of 
animal life, yet many animals can live longer without the use 
of this element, or at least with smaller quantities of it, than 
others. Those animals which lie torpid during the winter, 
as the hedge-hog, the dormouse, the marmot, &,c, though per* 
haps not entirely deprived of all communication with the air, 
exist, with only an occasional and interrupted respiration, till 
the heat of the spring restores their wonted powers of life, 
when a full respiration becomes again equally necessary as 
before their torpor commenced. The toad, like all the frog 
kind, is torpid in winter. At the approach of winter, it re- 
tires to the hollow root of a tree, to the cleft of a rock, and 
sometimes to the bottom of a ditch or pond, where it remains 
for months in a state of seeming insensibility. In this last 
situation it can have very little communication with the air. 
But still the principle of life is continued, and the animal re- 
vives in the spring. What is more wonderful, toads have 
been found, in a hundred places on the globe, inclosed in the 
heart of solid rocks, and in the bodies of trees, where they 
must probably have existed for centuries, without any appa- 
rent access either to nourishment or air ; and yet they were 
alive and vigorous. 

These facts are supported by authorities so numerous and 
so respectable, that it is unnecessary to quote them. Many 
abortive attempts have been made to account for an animal's 
growing and living very long in the situations above de- 
scribed, without the possibility of receiving nourishment or air ; 
especially as, like all other animals, when put into an exhausted 
receiver, it is soon destroyed. No satisfactory explanation, 
however, has ever been offered ; and solitary exceptions like 
these do not invalidate the general principle, that the respi- 



RESPIRATION. 99 

ration of air, in a greater or less degree, is constantly neces- 
sary to the existence of every living thing. 

■ The presence of air is as necessary to the *life of plants, 
as to that of animals. They have a respiration carried on by 
means of their leaves, which consumes in the same way the 
oxygea of the atmosphere, and exhales, instead of it, carbonic 
acid/ 

When placed in an exhausted receiver, the air contained 
in every part of their substance is soon extracted ; and, in pro- 
portion as this air is likewise pumped out by the machine, the 
flowers and leaves show evident symptoms of debility ; they 
become flaccid, pendulous, and assume a sickly appearance ; 
and, if retained in that situation a certain length of time, their 
vegetating powers are irrecoverably extinguished. 

Upon the whole, as the air we continually breathe is liable 
to be impregnated with exhalations from every substance to 
which it has access, the great importance of attention to its 
purity is an obvious reflection. In building towns or houses, 
the situation, with regard to air, is a capital object. The vi- 
cinity of marshes, of stagnating waters, of manufactures of 
tallow, oil, sal-ammoniac, the smelting or corroding of metals 
of every kind, and many other operations which contaminate 
the air, should be either avoided or removed, as they are the 
pests of our senses, and the poisoners of our constitutions. 
Even in northern climates, houses surrounded with trees, or 
in the neighborhood of luxuriant vegetables, are always damp, 
and infected with insects ; and hence the ambient air is re- 
plete with the seeds of disease. Precautions of this kind are 
still more necessary in hot climates. Air absorbs a greater 
or less proportion of the particles of bodies, according to its 
degree of heat. In Madrid, however, in Constantinople, and 
in many other cities of warm regions, the houses are crowded 
together, the streets are narrow, and covered with filth of 
every kind. We cannot, therefore, be surprised, that human 
beings, existing in such situations, should be so frequently in- 
fected with pestilential diseases. 



100 



MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 



CHAPTER II. 



OF THE MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 



* The motions performed by animals are of two kinds, 
voluntary and involuntary. The first are performed at the will 
of the animal, are under the direction of its intelligence and 
judgment, and are suggested by its desires, wants, passions, 
and affections. Such are the movements of its limbs, and or- 
gans of sense and voice, by which it moves about from place 
to place, and maintains a communication with its fellow- 
beings. The second, or involuntary motions, are placed totally 
out of the control of its will. It has no influence over their 
performance, and is not even conscious that they are performed. 
Of this kind are the motions of the heart, the stomach, &lc. 

' The voluntary motions are performed by the instrumen- 
tality of bones, articulations, muscles, and tendons. The 
bones are connected together by the articulations or joints, 
which are so constituted as to admit of the moving of one 
upon the other, like a hinge, as in the knee, or like a ball and 
socket, as in the hip and shoulder. The muscles are fleshy 
bodies of various lengths and sizes, formed of fibres, and ter- 
minated by tendons. These last are white and very strong 
cords, usually called sinews, by which the muscles are at- 
tached to the bones. The muscles have the power of short- 
ening or contracting themselves ; and in consequence of a 
diminution of their length, the bones to which they are fixed 
are moved upon their articulations in different directions, ac- 
cording to the situation of the muscle. And by the combined 
operations of a great many muscles, all the various motions 
of the bodies of animals are performed. Thus, in mastication, 
the under jaw is, by the contraction of one set of muscles, 
drawn upwards with great force, so that the lower teeth are 
made to crush and grind the food against the upper ; this 
contraction continues but for a moment ; the muscles are re- 
laxed, and by another set of them, the jaw is drawn down- 
ward. This motion is repeated as long as we continue eat- 
ing. This motion is more simple than that of most of our 
limbs, but they are all performed upon the same general prin- 
ciple of muscular action.' 

' The muscles compose a great part of the bodies of most 



MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 101 

animals. They constitute the greater part of the meat which 
is served up to us as food. In quadrupeds and some parts of 
birds, this is red ; in fishes and most of the lqwer orders of 
animals, it is white. It may be distinguished from other parts 
by its fibrous or stringy texture, which is more or less distinct, 
according to the size, strength, and moving powers of the ani- 
mal to which it belongs, and in some is scarcely to be ob- 
served at all. The contraction of muscles, and the consequent 
motions of the different organs, depend upon some unknown 
influence derived to them from the brain and nerves. Hence 
the brain and nerves are the sources of every motion, as well 
as of every sensation. With regard to the causes which de- 
termine the actions of animals, these must be referred to sen- 
sation, and the consequent exertions of intellect. The first 
impression an object makes upon our senses stimulates us 
either to approach or retire from it, according as it excites 
affection or aversion. But man, and many other animals, 
have the power of resisting these original motives to action, 
and of remaining at rest, without either retiring or approaching. 
"If a man," says the Count de Buffon, " were deprived of 
sight,-he would make no movement to gratify his eyes. The 
same thing would happen, if he were deprived of any of the 
other senses ; and, if deprived of every sense, he would re- 
main perpetually at rest, and no object would excite him to 
move, though, by natural conformation, he were fully capable 
of motion." Natural wants, as that of taking nourishment, 
necessarily excite desire or appetite. But if a man be de- 
prived of sensation, want cannot exist, because all its sources 
are annihilated. An animal without some sensation is no 
animal, but a dead mass of matter. Sensation is the only 
stimulus to animal motion : the aptness of the parts produces 
the effect, which varies according to the structure and desti- 
nation of these parts. The sense of want creates desire. 
Whenever an animal perceives an object fitted to supply its 
wants, desire is the necessary consequence, and action or 
motion instantly succeeds. 

e With regard to motions of the second kind, or involuntary 
motions, they are also performed by organs that commonly 
possess muscular fibres, but they are not connected with 
bones. The heart is a hollow muscle, which contracts in 
every direction upon the blood, and consequently throws it 
with great force into the arteries. The stomach is also a 
hollow muscle, which acts upon its contents by contraction ; 
and the same is true of most of the internal organs where 
9* 



102 MOTIONS OP ANIMALS. 

motion is produced. By motions of this kind, the most in> 
portant functions of the system are performed, as the circu- 
lation of the blood; the digestion of food; the peristaltic 
motion of the intestines; the absorption of the chyle; its 
transmission from the abdomen into the subclavian vein, &c. 
Yet none of these operations has any dependence upon our 
will or inclinations/ Together with the action of the lungs 
in respiration, they have received the denomination of vital 
and involuntary motions, because most of them go on without 
any conscious exertions of the intellectual principle. If such 
a variety of nice and complicated movements had been left 
to the determination and direction of our minds, they must 
necessarily have occupied too much of our attention; and 
many of them would infallibly have been neglected during 
sleep, when consciousness is almost totally suspended. But 
Nature in her operations is always wise. She has given to 
man, and other animals, the direction of no movements but 
what are easily performed, contribute to pleasure and health, 
and enable them to acquire food corresponding to the struc- 
ture of their bodies and the elements in which they live. 

It would be foreign to the design of this work, and ill 
suited to those to whom chiefly it is intended to be useful, to 
enter into the rationale of animal motion; to mention the 
number, insertion, and direction of the muscles employed in 
moving the different parts of animated bodies ; or to account 
for the modes by which animals walk, leap, fly, swim, creep, 
&c. Such discussions would not only require a volume, but a 
thorough acquaintance with all the depths of anatomical and 
mathematical knowledge. What follows, therefore, will con- 
sist of some desultory observations ; and the subject will be 
concluded by enumerating a few examples of movements pe- 
culiar to certain animals. 

' Every class of animals has in general its limited sphere of 
motion, from which the individuals belonging to it seldom 
depart. Thus quadrupeds are constructed so as to move 
with the greatest facility upon the earth, birds in the air, and 
fishes in the water ; yet there are exceptions with regard to 
all these classes. The bat is furnished with wings, and can 
traverse the air with as much facility as many birds; the 
ostrich, though furnished with wings, is confined to the earth, 
and can only walk or run ; whilst the flying-fish has fins so 
large, that it is capable of raising itself out of the water, and 
maintaining a flight for some time in the air. 

' The limbs of animals are always adapted to the particular 



MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 103 

kind of motions which their mode of life requires. Thus, in 
monkeys and apes, which subsist principally upon the fruit 
of trees, and, in fact, make them for the most part their place 
of residence, in order to avoid the destruction* to which they 
are constantly exposed from beasts of prey, the limbs are par- 
ticularly adapted for climbing. Upon plain ground they 
seem to go with ease neither upon four legs nor two. In the 
kangaroos, the hind legs are so long in proportion to those 
before, that they are scarcely able to go on all fours, but move 
from place to place principally by means of immense leaps, 
which the great strength of their hind legs enables them to 
make with facility. In the woodpecker, parrot, &c, whose 
food obliges them to climb along the trunks and branches of 
trees in search of it, the toes are particularly adapted for 
climbing ; and in the waders, who go into very deep water 
in quest of their prey, the legs are of very great length and 
nearly destitute of feathers. Examples of this kind might be 
multiplied to a great extent.' 

The motions of animals are proportioned to their weight 
and structure. A flea can leap some hundred times its own 
length. Were an elephant, a camel, or a horse, to leap in 
the same proportion, their weight would crush them to atoms. 
The same remark is applicable to spiders, worms, and other 
insects. The softness of their texture, and the comparative 
smallness of their specific gravity, enable them to fall with 
impunity from heights that would prove fatal to larger and 
heavier animals. 

The different movements to which animals are stimulated 
by the desire of food, by the appetite for frolic and exercise, 
by their hostilities, and by other exciting causes, give anima- 
tion and vivacity to the whole scene of nature. A silent and 
motionless prospect, however beautiful and variegated, soon 
ceases to please, and at last becomes insupportable. Motion, 
says Mr. Harris, is the object or cause of all sensation. In 
music we hear it ; in savors we taste it ; in odors we smell it ; 
in touch we feel it ; in light we see it. 

Animals, furnished with destructive weapons, or endowed 
with uncommon strength, courage, or ingenuity, are propor- 
tionally slower in their movements than the weaker kinds. 
The same remark is applicable to those species whose food is 
always at hand. Worms, caterpillars, and many other in- 
sects, in order to procure nourishment, are under no neces- 
sity of taking an extensive range. But the motions of birds 
and fishes are extremely rapid ; because, in quest of food, 



104 MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 

they are obliged to pass through large tracts, and they have 
also many enemies to avoid. 

Timid animals, as the hare, the rabbit, the guinea-pig, &c, 
are almost perpetually in motion. Even when perfectly un- 
disturbed, they are restless, and betray a continual anxiety 
of danger. They run about, stop short, erect their ears, and 
listen. The guinea-pig frequently raises itself on its hind 
legs, and snuffs all around to catch the scent of food when 
hungry, or to increase its circle of hearing when afraid. 

The movements of many animals are so extremely slow, 
that some of them, particularly those of the shell tribes, are 
generally supposed to be destitute of the power of moving. 
It is a common notion, that both the fresh and salt water 
muscles have not the locomotive faculty. But this is a vul- 
gar error. It is almost unnecessary to mention, that the 
exterior part of muscles consists of two shells hinged together, 
which the animals can open or shut at pleasure. Every per- 
son must likewise have observed, in the structure of the ani- 
mal itself, a fleshy protuberance of a much redder color, and 
denser consistence, than the other parts of the body. This 
muscular protuberance, which consists of two lobes, has been 
denominated a trunk or tongue; but it is an instrument 
by which the creature is enabled to perform a progressive 
though a very slow motion ; and, therefore, in describing its 
manner of moving, I shall call these two lobes the animal's 
tentacula or feet. 

When inclined to remove from its present situation, the 
river muscle opens its shell, thrusts out its tentacula, and 
while lying on its side in a horizontal position, digs a small 
furrow in the sand. Into this furrow, by the operation of the 
same tentacula, the animal makes the shell fall, and thus brings 
it into a vertical position. We have now got our muscle on 
end ; but how is he to proceed ? He stretches forward his ten- 
tacula, by which he throws back the sand, lengthens the fur- 
row, and this fulcrum enables him to proceed on his journey. 

With regard to marine muscles, their progressive motion is 
performed in the same manner, and by the same instruments. 
When not in motion, they are firmly attached to rocks or small 
stones, by many threads of about two inches in length, which 
serve the purpose of a cable. Without this provision of na- 
ture, these animals must become the sport of the waves, and 
the species would soon be annihilated. But how does the 
creature spin these threads ? A cylindrical canal extends 
from the origin to the extremity of the tentacula. In this 



MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 105 

canal, an extremely glutinous substance is secreted, which the 
animal, by the operation of certain muscles, has the power of 
forcing out, and of attaching, in tho form of strong threads, 
to stones or other solid bodies. More than a hundred and 
fifty of these cables are often employed in mooring a single 
muscle. The substance of the threads is exceedingly viscous, 
indigestible in the human stomach, and is probably the cause 
of those fatal consequences which sometimes happen to inat- 
tentive eaters. In Scotland, these threads are called the 
beards of muscles, and should be carefully pulled off before 
the animals are thrown into the stomach. 

Other bivalved shell-fish, the species of which are numerous, 
perform a progressive or retrograde motion, by an instrument 
that has no small resemblance to a leg and foot. But the 
animals can, at pleasure, make this leg assume almost every 
kind of form, according as their exigencies may require. By 
this leg they are not only enabled to creep, to sink into the 
mud, or disengage themselves from it, but to perform a motion 
which no man could suppose a shell-fish were capable of per- 
forming. When the tellina, or limpin, is about to make a 
spring, it puts the shell on the point or summit, as if with a 
view to diminish friction. It then stretches out the leg as far 
as possible, makes it embrace a portion of the shell, and by 
a sudden movement similar to that of a spring let loose, it 
strikes the earth with its leg, and actually leaps to a consider 
able distance. 

The spout-fish has a bivalved shell, which resembles the 
handle of a razor. This animal is incapable of progressive 
motion on the surface ; but it digs a hole or cell in the sand, 
sometimes two feet in depth, in which it can ascend and de- 
scend at pleasure. The instrument or leg by which it per- 
forms all its movements is situated at the centre. This leg is 
fleshy, cylindrical, and pretty long. When necessary, the 
animal can make the termination of the leg assume the form 
of a ball. The spout-fish, when lying on the surface of the 
sand and about to sink into it, extends its leg from the infe- 
rior end of the shell, and makes the extremity of it take on 
the form of a shovel, sharp on each side, and terminating in 
a point. With this instrument the animal cuts a hole in the 
sand. After the hole is made, it advances the leg still farther 
into the sand, makes it assume the form of a hook, and with 
this hook, as a fulcrum, it obliges the shell to descend into the 
hole. In this manner the animal operates till the shell totally 
disappears, When it chooses to regain the surface, it puts 



106 MOTIONS OP ANIMALS. 

the termination of the leg into the shape of a ball, and makes 
an effort to extend the whole leg ; but the ball prevents any 
farther descent, and the muscular effort necessarily pushes the 
shell upward till it reaches the surface or top of the hole. It 
is amazing with what dexterity and quickness these seemingly 
awkward motions are performed. 

It is remarkable that the spout-fish, though it lives in salt 
water, abhors salt. When a little salt is thrown into the hole, 
the animal instantly quits its habitation. But it is still more 
remarkable, that if you seize the animal with your hand, and 
afterwards allow it to retire into its cell, you may strew as 
much salt upon it as you please, but the fish will never again 
make its appearance. If you do not handle the animal, by 
applying salt, you may make it come to the surface as often 
as you incline ; and fishermen often make use of this strata- 
gem. This behavior indicates more sentiment and recollec- 
tion than one would naturally expect from a spout-fish. 

The scallop, another well-known bivalved shell-fish, has the 
power of progressive motion upon land, and likewise of swim- 
ming on the surface of the water. When this animal happens 
to be deserted by the tide, it opens its shell to the full extent, 
then shuts it with a sudden jerk, by which it often rises five 
or six inches from the ground. In this manner it tumbles for- 
ward till it regains the water. When the sea is calm, troops, 
or little fleets of scallops, are often observed swimming on the 
surface. They raise one valve of their shell above the sur- 
face, which becomes a kind of sail, while the other remains 
under the water, and answers the purpose of an anchor, by 
steadying the animal, and preventing its being overset. When 
an enemy approaches, they instantly shut their shells, plunge 
to the bottom, and the whole fleet disappears. By what means 
they are enabled to regain the surface, we are still ignorant. 

Like many other bivalved shell-fish, the oyster has the power 
of squirting out water with a considerable force. By thus 
suddenly and forcibly ejecting a quantity of water, the animal 
repulses such enemies as endeavor to insinuate into its shell 
while open. By the same operation, if not firmly attached 
to rocks, to stones, or to one another, the oyster retreats back- 
wards, or starts to a side in a lateral direction. Any person 
may amuse himself with the squirting and motions of oysters, 
by putting them in a plate situated in a horizontal position, 
and which contains as much sea water as is sufficient to cover 
them. The oyster has been represented, by many authors, 
as an animal destitute not only of motion, but of every spe- 



MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 107 

mes of sensations. The Abbe Dicquemare, however, has 
shown, that it can perform movements perfectly correspond- 
ing to its wants, to the dangers it apprehends, «and to the ene- 
mies by which it is attacked. Instead of being destitute of all 
sensation, oysters are capable of deriving knowledge from ex- 
perience* When removed from situations which are constantly 
covered with the sea, devoid of experience, they open their 
shells, lose their water, and die in a few days. But even 
when taken from similar situations, and laid down in places 
from which the sea occasionally retires, they feel the effects of 
the sun's rays, or of the cold air, or perhaps apprehend the at- 
tacks of enemies, and accordingly learn to keep their shells 
close till the tide returns. Conduct of this kind plainly indi- 
cates both sensation and a degree of intelligence. 

The progressive motion of the sea-urchin, or sea-egg, a 
well-known multivalved shell-fish, merits our attention. This 
animal, of which there are several species, is round, oval, or 
shaped like a bias-bowl. The surface of the shell is divided 
into beautiful triangular compartments, and covered with num- 
berless prickles ; from which last circumstance it has received 
the appellation of sea-urchin or sea-hedgehog. These trian- 
gles are separated by regular belts, and perforated by a great 
number of holes. Each hole gives lodgment to a fleshy 
horn,* similar to those of the snail, and susceptible of the same 
movements. Like the snail, the sea-urchin uses its horns 
when in motion ; but their principal use is to fix the animal to 
rocks, stones, or the bottom of the ocean. By means of the 
horns and prickles, which proceed from almost every point of 
the shell, the sea-urchin is enabled to walk either on its back 
or on its belly. The limbs it most generally employs are 
those which surround the mouth. But, when it chooses, it 
can move forward by turning on itself like the wheel of a 
coach. Thus the sea-urchin furnishes an example of an ani 
mal employing many thousand limbs in its various movements. 
The reader may try to conceive the number of muscles, of 
fibres, and of other apparatus, which are requisite to the pro- 
gressive motion of this little animal. 

The motion of that species of medusa, or sea-nettle, which 
attaches itself to rocks, and to the larger shell-fish, is extremely 
slow. The sea-nettles assume such a variety of figures, that 
it is impossible to describe them under any determinate shape. 
In general, their bodies have a resemblance to a truncated 

* See Introduction, p. 82. 



108 MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 

cone. The base of the cone is applied to the rock of other 
substance to which they adhere. With regard to color, 
some of them are red, some greenish, some whitish, and 
others are brown. When the mouth, which is very large, is 
expanded, its margin is surrounded with a great number of 
fleshy filaments, or horns, similar to those of the snail. These 
horns are disposed in three rows around the mouth, and give 
the animal the appearance of a flower. Through each of 
these horns the sea-nettle squirts water, like so many jets-d'eau. 
What is peculiar in the structure of these creatures, the whole 
interior part of their body, or cone, is one cavity, or stomach. 
When searching for food, they extend their filaments, and 
entangle any small animals they encounter. When they meet 
with their prey, they instantly swallow it, and shut their mouths 
close, like a purse. Though the animal should not exceed an 
inch or an inch and a half in diameter, as it is all mouth and 
stomach, it swallows large whelks and muscles. These shell 
animals sometimes remain many days in the stomach before 
they are ejected. Their nutritious parts are at last, however, 
extracted ; but how does the sea-nettle get quit of the shell 7 
The creature has no other aperture in its body but the mouth, 
and this mouth is the instrument by which it both receives 
nourishment, and discharges the excrement, or unprofitable 
part of its food. When the shell is not too large, the sea- 
nettle has the power of turning its inside out, and by this 
strange manoeuvre the shell is thrown out of the body, and the 
animal resumes its former state. But when the shell pre- 
sents itself in a wrong position, the animal cannot discharge 
it in the usual manner : but what is extremely singular, near 
the base of the cone, the body of the creature splits, as if a 
large wound had been made with a knife, and through this 
gash the shell of the muscle, or other shell, is ejected. 

With regard to the progressive motion of the sea-nettle, it 
is as slow as the hour hand of a clock. The whole external 
part of its body is furnished with numerous muscles. These 
muscles are tubular, and filled with a fluid, which makes them 
project in the form of prickles. By the instrumentality of 
these muscles, the animal is enabled to perform the very slow 
motion just now mentioned. But this is not the only means 
by which the sea-nettle is capable of moving. When it 
pleases, it can loosen the base of the cone by which it is at- 
tached to the rock, reverse its body, and employ the filaments 
round its mouth as so many limbs. Still, however, its move- 
ments are very slow 



INSTINCT* 109 

CHAPTER III. 

OF INSTINCT. 

* Animals exhibit, in many cases, an appearance of skill, 
forethought, sagacity and judgment, which seems to indicate 
a high degree of the reasoning faculty, or else an intuitive or 
instinctive knowledge, which directs them in their actions. 
Philosophers have been at a loss to determine whether, in 
these instances, the sagacity of brutes is to be attributed to 
a power of judging and reasoning similar to that of man, 
or to a mere instinct. Some have contended that all the 
actions of animals, of whatever kind, are founded upon ex- 
perience, observation, and reasoning; whilst others maintain 
that they are produced by an innate and original principle, 
which directs and governs the animal without any voluntary 
exercise of judgment on its own part. 

' The probability is, that the truth lies between these two 
opinions. Some of the operations performed by the higher 
orders of animals can only be accounted for upon the sup- 
position, that they are possessed of the same intellectual 
powers with mankind, though to a much less extent; whilst, 
on the other hand, many of them can only be the result of a 
blind and undiscriminating instinct. The wonderful instances 
of sagacity, memory, and other intellectual operations, exhib- 
ited by dogs, elephants, horses, &>c, some of which will be 
related in the course of this work, can only be the result of 
the former ; whilst the prudence and anticipation of remote 
consequences so often exhibited by animals, particularly those 
of the class of insects, can only proceed from the latter. 

' But with all their powers of mind, such as they are, and 
all their curious and astonishing instincts, there is an immense 
distance between man and other animals, with respect to the 
capacity for improvement. The latter are not capable of 
making progressive advancement from one generation to an- 
other, and cannot transmit nor communicate the results of 
their experience for the benefit of others. Hence, although, 
in some rare instances, brutes exhibit a sagacity and shrewd- 
ness which seem to equal that which a man would evince in 
similar circumstances, yet they do not impart the same quali- 
ties to others or to their offspring. Man, who owes more to 
reason, owes less to instinct than any other animal ; though 
10 



lift INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE. 

he is n6t entirely destitute of it. His knowledge is, for the 
most part, the result of his own experience and observation, 
or that of others which has been communicated to him, and 
his actions are guided by the knowledge thus acquired. The 
infant is consequently more helpless and imbecile than the 
young of other animals, and is long in acquiring the same 
comparative degree of dexterity and cunning. 

i In animals possessed of both intellect and instinct in a 
considerable degree, they modify and assist the operation of 
each other, and often give to these animals the appearance of 
much higher exertions of thought than they can really lay 
claim to. Thus the instinct of the beaver in building his 
habitation, is in some measure guided and modified by his 
experience and observation. He accommodates its structure 
to the peculiar situation of the place he has fixed upon, and 
the circumstances of the surrounding country ; and this has 
induced some to believe that the whole process on the part 
of this animal belongs to the understanding. But it is more 
probable that instinct is the main guide, whilst reason aids 
and modifies its operation. The want of this aiding and 
modifying influence of the rational principle, is shown in 
many remarkable instances among the lower orders of animals, 
which possess it only to a small extent. Thus the instinct of 
the honey-bees prompts them to preserve their queen on all 
occasions from injury or from escape ; but under some cir- 
cumstances, it leads them to measures for effecting this pur- 
pose, which are so violent as to destroy her. The instinct of 
the flesh-fly induces it to deposit its eggs in putrid meat ; but, 
deceived by the smell of a particular plant, which exactly 
resembles that of carrion, they hover around it, and deposit 
them on its leaves, where they can never come to perfection. 
Experience and observation, had these insects been capable 
of them, would have directed them to avoid these destructive 
consequences. 

' The difference between an animal governed almost wholly 
by instinct, and one principally under the direction of reason, 
can be in no way more strikingly illustrated, than by compar- 
ing the habitations of man with those of lower animals. The 
dwellings of man differ in all ages and countries. In his 
savage state, they are less perfect than the nests of birds, the 
huts of the beaver, or the cells of bees; in the cultivated 
stages of society, they are, it is unnecessary to say, almost 
infinitely more perfect. His are always varying, while theirs 
are always the same, and improve by experience and obser- 



DIFFERENT KINDS OF INSTINCT. Ill 

vation only in some points of secondary importance. They 
do not invent ; they only modify the suggestions of instinct, 
from absolute necessity. The first society of bSes constructed 
their cells as perfectly as is now done ; they have never im- 
proved ; but the first man had no shelter but such as the foli- 
age of a tree could afford him. 

' In considering the facts which are known with regard to 
instinct, they may be arranged under two heads ; the first ex- 
hibiting examples of pure instinct; and the second, of such 
instincts as can accommodate themselves to peculiar circum- 
stances and situations, or such as are improvable by experience 
and observation.' 



1. Of Pure Instincts. 

By pure instincts are meant those, which, independent of 
all instruction and experience, instantaneously produce cer- 
tain actions when peculiar objects are presented to animals, 
or when they are influenced by peculiar feelings. Of this 
class the following are examples. 

In the human species, the instinct of sucking is exerted 
immediately after birth. This instinct is not excited by any 
smell peculiar to the mother, to milk, or to any other sub- 
stance ; for infants suck indiscriminately every thing brought 
into contact with their mouths. The desire of sucking, there- 
fore, is innate, and coeval with the appetite for air. 

When caterpillars are shaken off a tree in every direction, 
all of them instantly turn toward the trunk, and climb up, 
though they have never formerly been on the surface of the 
ground. 

Young birds open their mouths upon hearing any kind of 
noise, as well as that of their mother's voice. They have no 
apprehensions of harm; neither do they offer to use their 
wings till they acquire more strength and experience. The 
lion's cub is not ferocious till he feels force and activity for 
destruction. 

Insects invariably deposit their eggs in situations most 
favorable for hatching and affording nourishment to their 
future progeny. Butterflies, and other insects, whose offspring 
feed upon vegetables, uniformly fix their eggs upon such 
plants as are most agreeable to the palate and constitution of 
their young. Water insects never deposit their eggs on dry 
ground. Butterflies, which have been transformed in the 



112 DIFFERENT KINDS OF INSTINCT. 

house, exhibit marks of the greatest uneasiness, because they 
cannot find a proper nidus for their eggs ; and when every 
other resource fails, they paste the eggs on the panes of the 
window. 

Some species of animals look to future wants. Others, as 
the bee and the beaver, are endowed with an instinct which 
has the appearance of foresight. They construct magazines, 
and fill them with provisions. 

The common bees attend the female, or queen, do her many 
little services, and even feed her with honey from their trunks. 
When deprived of the female, all their labors cease, till a 
new one is obtained, whom they treat with much respect, and 
renew their usual operation. They make cells of three dif- 
ferent dimensions, for holding workers, drones, and females ; 
and the queen-bee, in depositing her eggs, distinguishes the 
three different kinds, and never puts a royal or a drone egg 
into the cells destined for the reception of the working bees. 
What is equally singular, the number of these cells is pro- 
portioned to that of the different bees to be produced. One 
royal cell weighs as much as one hundred of the common 
kind. When there are several females in a hive, the bees 
work little till they have destroyed all the females but one. 
If more than a single female were allowed to remain in a 
hive, a greater number of eggs would be laid than the work- 
ing bees are able to make cells for receiving. 

The wood-piercing bee, which is one of the solitary species, 
gnaws, with amazing rapidity and perseverance, a large hole 
in old timber. After laying her eggs in the cells, she deposits 
such a quantity of glutinous matter, as nourishes the worms 
produced from these eggs till the time of their transformation 
into flies. She then pastes up the mouth of the hole, and 
leaves her future offspring to the provision she has made for 
them. 

The bees of that species which build cylindrical nests with 
rose leaves, exhibit a very peculiar instinct. They first dig a 
cylindrical hole in the earth. When that operation is fin- 
ished, they go in quest of rose-bushes ; and, after selecting 
leaves proper for their purpose, they cut oblong, curved, and 
even round pieces, exactly suited to form the different parts 
of the cylinder. 

The solitary wasp digs holes in the sand. In each hole she 
deposits an egg. But how is the worm, after it is hatched, to 
be nourished ? Here the instinct of the mother merits atten- 
tion. Though she feeds not upon flesh herself, and certainly 



DIFFERENT KINDS OF INSTINCT. 113 

knows not that an animal is to proceed from the egg, and far 
less that this animal must be nourished with other animals, 
she collects ten or tw r elve small green worms, which she piles 
one above another, rolls them up in a circular form, and fixes 
them in the hole in such a manner that they cannot move. 
When the wasp-worm is hatched, it is amply stored with the 
food nature has destined for its support. The green worms 
are devoured in succession : and the number deposited is ex- 
actly proportioned to the time necessary for the growth and 
transformation of the wasp-worm into a fly, when it issues 
from the hole, and is capable of procuring its own nourish- 
ment. 

There are many other instances of ichneumon-wasps and 
flies, which, though they feed not themselves upon worms, lay 
up provisions of these animals for the nourishment of their 
young; and each kind is adapted to the constitution of the 
worm that is to proceed from their eggs. 

Birds of the same species, unless when restrained by pecu- 
liar circumstances, uniformly build their nests of the same 
materials, and in the same form and situation, though they 
inhabit very different climates. When removed by necessity 
from their eggs, they hasten back to them with anxiety. They 
turn and shift their eggs, which has the effect of heating them 
equally. Ducks and geese cover up their eggs till they re- 
turn to the nest. A hen sits with equal ardor upon eggs of a 
different species, or even upon artificial eggs. 

The spider, the dermestes, and many insects of the beetle 
kind, exhibit an instinct of a very uncommon nature. When 
put in terror by a touch of the finger, the spider runs off with 
great swiftness ; but if he finds that, whatever direction he 
takes, he is opposed by another finger, he then seems to de- 
spair of being able to escape, contracts his limbs and body, 
lies perfectly motionless, and counterfeits every symptom of 
death. In this situation, I have pierced spiders with pins, 
and torn them to pieces, without their discovering the smallest 
mark of pain. This simulation of death has been ascribed 
to a strong convulsion, or stupor, occasioned by terror. But 
this solution of the phenomenon is erroneous. I have re- 
peatedly tried the experiment, and uniformly found, that, if 
the object of terror be removed, in a few seconds the animal 
runs off with great rapidity. Some beetles, when counter- 
feiting death, suffer themselves to be gradually roasted with- 
out moving a single joint. 
10* 



114 DIFFERENT KINDS OF INSTINCT 

2. Of instincts rvhicJi can accommodate themselves to pecu* 
liar circumstances and situations, or such as are improvable 
by experience and observation, 

* Almost all the instincts of the higher kind of animals are 
included under this division. There are few of them which 
are not capable of being improved by education and experi- 
ence, and this is particularly the case with those of man.' 

The ostrich has been accused of unnaturalness, because 
she leaves her eggs to be hatched by the heat of the sun. In 
Senegal, where the heat is great, she neglects her eggs dur- 
ing the day, but sits upon them in the night. At the Cape 
of Good Hope, however, where the degree of heat is less, the 
ostrich, like other birds, sits upon her eggs both day and night. 

Rabbits dig holes in the ground for warmth and protection. 
But, after continuing long in a domestic state, that resource 
being unnecessary, they seldom employ this art. 

Bees, when they have not room enough for their operations,, 
augment the depth of their honey-cells. The female bee, 
when the cells are not sufficiently numerous to receive her 
eggs, lays two or three in each cell. But a few days after, 
when the cells are increased, the working bees remove all 
the supernumerary eggs, and deposit them in the newly-con- 
structed cells. 

When a wasp, in attempting to transport a dead companion 
from the nest, finds the load too heavy, he cuts off its head, 
and carries it out in two portions. 

In countries infested with monkeys, many birds, which, in 
other climates, build in bushes and clefts of trees, suspend 
their nests upon slender twigs, and, by this ingenious device, 
elude the rapacity of their enemies. 

The nymphs of water-moths, commonly called cod-bait, 
cover themselves, by means of gluten, with p'ieces of wood, 
straw, small shells, or gravel. It is necessary that they should 
always be nearly in equilibrium with the water in which they 
live. To accomplish this purpose, when their habitations are 
too heavy, they add a piece of wood ; when too light, a bit of 
gravel. 

A cat was known to frequent a closet, the door of which 
was fastened by a common iron latch. A window was sit- 
uated near the door. When the door was shut, she gave her- 
self no uneasiness. As soon as she was tired of her confine- 
ment, she mounted on the sole of the window, and with her 
paw dexterously lifted the latch and came out. This prac- 
tice she continued for years. 



MFFERENT KINDS OP INSTINCT, J 15 

* These are bat a few examples of instinct : many others, 
more curious and interesting, will be found in the different 
chapters of this work, which treats of other subjects con- 
nected with the character and history of animals.' 



The notion that animals are machines, is perhaps too ab- 
surd to merit refutation. Though no animal is endowed with 
mental powers equal to those of man, yet there is not a faculty 
of the human mind, but evident marks of its existence are 
to be found in particular animals. Senses, memory, imagi- 
nation, the principle of imitation, curiosity, cunning, ingenu- 
ity, devotion, or respect for superiors, gratitude, are ail dis- 
coverable in the brute creation. Neither is art denied to 
them. They build in various styles; they dig,* they wage 
war ; they extract peculiar substances from water, from plants, 
from the earth ; they modulate their voices so as to commu- 
nicate their wants, their sentiments, their pleasures and pains, 
their apprehensions of danger, and their prospects of future 
good. Every species has its own language. They ask and 
give assistance to each other. They speak of their necessi- 
ties; and this branch of their language is more or less ex- 
tended, in proportion to the number of their wants. Ges- 
tures and inarticulate sounds are the signs of their thoughts. 
It is necessary that the same sentiment should produce the 
same sounds and the same movements; and, consequently, 
each individual of a species must have the same organization. 
Birds and quadrupeds, accordingly, are incapable of holding 
discourse to each other, or communicating the ideas and feel- 
ings they possess in common. The language of gesture pre- 
pares for that of articulation ; and some animals are capable 
of acquiring a knowledge of articulate sounds. They first 
judge of our thoughts by our gestures ; and afterwards ac- 
quire the habit of connecting these thoughts with the lan- 
guage in which we express them. It is in this manner that 
the elephant and the dog learn to obey the commands of their 
masters. 

Infants are exactly in the same condition with brutes. 
They understand some of our gestures and words long before 
they can articulate. They discover their wants by gestures 
and inarticulate sounds, the meaning of which the nurse 
learns by experience. Different infants have different modes 
of expressing their wants. This is the reason why nurses 
know the intentions of infants, though they are perfectly un- 



116 DIFFERENT KINDS OF INSTINCT, 

intelligible to strangers. When an infant, accordingly, is trans- 
ferred from one nurse to another, the former instructs the 
latter in the gestures and inarticulate language of the child. 

The idea of a machine implies a select combination of the 
common properties of matter. The regularity of its move* 
ments is a proof that they are totally distinct from animal or 
spontaneous motion. A machine has nothing analogous to 
sensation, which is the lowest characteristic of an animal. 
An animated machine, therefore, is an absurd abuse of terms. 
It confounds what nature has distinguished in the most unam- 
biguous manner. 

Brutes, like men, learn to see objects in their proper posi- 
tion, to judge of distances and heights, and of hurtful, pleas- 
urable, or indifferent bodies. Without some portion of reason, 
therefore,, they could never acquire the faculty of making 
a proper use of their senses. A dog, though pressed with 
hunger, will not seize a piece of meat in the presence of his 
master, unless it be given to him; but, with his eyes, his 
movements, and his voice, he makes the most humble and ex- 
pressive petition. If this balancing of motives be not reason- 
ing, by what other name can it be called? < 

Animals, recently after birth, know not how to avoid dan- 
ger. Neither can they make a proper use of their members. 
But experience soon teaches them what is pleasant and what 
is painful, what objects are hurtful and what salutary. A 
young cat or a dog, which has had no experience of leaping 
from a height, will, without hesitation, precipitate itself from 
the top of a high wall. But, after perceiving that certain 
heights are hurtful, and others inoffensive, the animal learns 
to make the distinction, and never afterwards can be prevailed 
upon to leap from a height which it knows will be produc- 
tive of pain. 

Young animals examine every object they meet with. In 
this investigation they employ all their organs. The first 
periods of their life are dedicated to study. When they run 
about, and make frolicsome gambols, it is nature sporting 
with them for their instruction. In this manner they improve 
their faculties and organs, and acquire an intimate knowledge 
of the objects which surround them. Men who, from pecu- 
liar circumstances, have been prevented from mingling with 
companions, and engaging in the different amusements and 
exercises of youth, are always awkward in their movements, 
cannot use their organs with ease or dexterity, and often con- 
tinue, during life, ignorant of the most common objects. 



SMELLING. 117 



CHAPTER IV. 

« 

OF THE SENSES. 

No animal, of which we have any knowledge, is endowed 
with more than the five external senses of smelling, tasting, 
hearing, touch, and seeing ; and no animal, however imper- 
fect, is destitute of the whole. Without organs of sensation, 
in a smaller or greater number, animal or intellectual exist- 
ence is to us an inconceivable idea. 

Our observations on the different instruments of sensation 
will proceed in the following order, namely, of the senses of 
smelling, of tasting, of hearing, of touch, and of seeing. In 
general, it may be remarked, that all sensation is conveyed to 
the mind by an unknown influence of the nerves. If the op- 
tic, olfactory, or any nerve distributed over an organ of sen- 
sation, be cut, or rendered paralytic, the animal instantly loses 
that particular sense. This is a fact universally established 
by experiment. But that the nerves, which are nearly similar 
in every part of the body, should > when distributed oyer the 
eye, the ear, the tongue, the nose, convey to the mind feelings 
so different, is the most mysterious part of this subject. 



Of Smelling* 

In man, and many other animals, the organ by which the 
sense of smelling is conveyed to the mind, has received the 
general appellation of nose or nostrils. The more immediate 
instrument of this sensation is a soft, vascular, porous mem- 
brane, and is known by the name of the pituitary membrane, 
or Schneiderian membrane. This membrane is totally covered 
with infinite ramifications and convolutions of the olfactory 
nerves. These nerves are almost naked, and exposed to the 
action of the air which passes through the nose in performing 
the function of respiration. But Nature, ever attentive to the 
ease and convenience of her creatures, has furnished the 
nostrils with a number of glands, or small arteries, which 
secrete a thick, insipid mucus. By this mucus, the olfactory 
nerves are defended from the action of the air, and from the 
painful stimuli of acrid odors. 

The odors perceived by smelling are extremely various. 



118 SMELLING. 

Some of them convey to us the most delightful and refreshing 
sensations, and others are painful, noxious, and disgusting. 
The effluvia of odoriferous bodies float in the atmosphere, and 
act upon the olfactory nerves of different animals, and some- 
times of different individuals of the same species, in such a 
manner as to produce very different sensations. What is 
pleasant to the nostrils of one animal is highly offensive to 
those of another. Brute animals select their food chiefly by 
employing the sense of smelling, and it seldom deceives them. 
They easily distinguish noxious from salutary food ; and they 
carefully avoid the one, and use the other for nourishment. 
The same thing happens with regard to the drink of animals. 
A cow, when it can be obtained, always repairs to the clear- 
est and freshest stream ; but a horse, from some instinctive 
impulse, uniformly raises the mud with his feet, and renders 
the water impure, before he drinks. 

In the selection of food, men are greatly , assisted, even in 
the most luxurious state of society, by the sense of smelling 
By smelling we often reject food as noxious, and will not risk 
the other test of tasting. Victuals which have a putrid smell, 
as equally offensive to our nostrils as hurtful to our constitu- 
tions, we avoid with abhorrence ; but we are allured to eat 
substances which have a grateful and savory odor. The more 
frequent and more acute discernment of brutes in the exercise 
of this sense, is entirely owing to their freedom, and to their 
using natural productions alone. But men in society, by the 
arts of cookery, by the unnatural assemblage of twenty in- 
gredients in one dish, blunt, corrupt, and deceive both their 
senses of smelling and tasting. Were we in the same natural 
condition as the brutes, our sense of smelling would enable 
us to distinguish, with equal certainty, noxious from salutary 
food. Brutes, as well as men, prefer particular foods to 
others. This may be considered as a species of luxury ; but 
it should likewise be considered, that all the articles they use 
are either animal or vegetable substances in a natural state, 
neither converted into a thousand forms and qualities by the 
operation of fire and water, nor having their savor exalted by 
stimulating condiments. Domestic animals are nearly in the 
same condition with luxurious men. A pampered dog snuffs 
and rejects many kinds of food, which, in a natural state, he 
would devour with eagerness. 

It is not unworthy of remark, that, in all animals, the organs 
of smelling and of tasting are uniformly situated very near 
each other, Hence the intention of nature is eyident The 



SMELLING, 119 

vicinity of these two senses forms a double guard in the se- 
lection of food. Were they placed in distant parts of the 
body, they could not so readily give mutual aid? 

The air we breathe is perpetually impregnated with an in- 
finity of different particles, which stimulate the olfactory nerves, 
and give rise to the sensations of smell. When our senses 
are not vitiated by unnatural habits, they are not only faithful 
monitors of danger, but convey to us the most exquisite pleas- 
ures. Even the sense of smelling is always productive either 
of pleasure or pain. The fragrance of a rose, and of many 
other flowers, is not only pleasant, but gives a refreshing and 
delightful stimulus to the whole system, and may be considered 
as a species of wholesome nourishment ; while the odors pro- 
ceeding from hemlock, and from many other noxious vegeta- 
ble, animal, and mineral substances, are highly offensive to our 
nostrils. Hence we are naturally compelled to embrace the 
one class of sensations, and to avoid the other. 

Some animals, as the dog, the fox, the raven, &,c, are en- 
dowed with a most exquisite sense of smelling* A dog scents 
various kinds of game at a considerable distance ; and, if the 
fact were not confirmed by daily experience, it could hardly 
gain credit, that he can trace the odor of his master's foot 
through all the winding streets of a populous city. If we 
judge from our own feelings, this extreme sensibility in the 
nose of a dog is to us perfectly incomprehensible. 

' In animals which do not breathe air, the odoriferous par- 
ticles are conveyed to the organ of smelling through the me- 
dium of water. In fishes, the nostrils do not form a tube or 
canal, as in animals which breathe air y but consist of a simple 
cavity on each side of the nose, into which the water, impreg- 
nated with odors, flows, and communicates the sensation of 
smell. 

' In the invertebral animals, no distinct organ for this sense 
has ever been discovered, and yet they almost all appear to 
possess it in no inconsiderable degree. Some insects, as was 
mentioned in the last chapter, are induced, by the odor of cer- 
tain fetid plants, to deposit their eggs upon the leaves, be- 
lieving them to be putrid flesh ; they must, therefore, be pos- 
sessed of the sense of smelling, for in no other way could 
they be deceived. A probable conjecture with regard to the 
organ by which it is exercised, is that which refers it to the 
air-tubes or tracheae, by which they respire. In the mollusca, 
it is not improbable that the whole surface of the skin, which 
resembles in its structure the pituitary membrane of other 



120 TASTING, 

animals, is the seat of this sense ; and the same may be tru£ 
of worms and zoophytes.' 



Of Tasting. 

The tongue and palate are the great instruments of this sen- 
sation. With much wisdom and propriety, the organ of taste 
is situated in such a manner as enables it to be a guardian to 
the alimentary canal, and to assist the organ of smell in distin- 
guishing salutary from noxious food. The tongue is perpetu- 
ally moistened with saliva, a liquor which, though insipid itself, 
is one great cause of all tastes. The saliva of animals is 
a very powerful solvent. Every substance applied to the 
tongue is partially dissolved by the saliva before the sensation 
of taste is excited. When the tongue is rendered dry, or 
coated by disease, or any other cause, the sense of taste is 
either vitiated, or totally annihilated. 

6 When we exercise this sense, the substance which we 
wish to taste is pressed by the tongue against the roof of the 
mouth, and the different parts of the mouth are contracted 
closely around the tongue and the sapid body. The more 
complete and perfect the contact which thus takes place, the 
more perfect is the art of tasting. The internal surface of 
the mouth is very little capable of perceiving or distinguishing 
tastes, unless this pressure takes place. In fact, if the mouth 
be held open and a substance of even a pretty powerful taste 
be applied to the tongue, the impression it gives is very indis- 
tinct and indefinite, and becomes perceptible only by closing 
the jaws and bringing the tongue up into contact with the 
roof of the mouth. Hence arises the pleasure we feel in 
the act of chewing and swallowing. The motion of the jaw, 
and the action of the teeth and tongue, mix the food with 
saliva, thus putting it into a fit state for producing the sensa- 
tion of taste, and, at the same time, convey it between the 
tongue and the roof of the mouth; whilst, in swallowing, 
almost the whole internal surface of the mouth contracts upon 
and comes in contact with the morsel, raising the pleasure of 
taste to the highest degree/ 

In some men the sense of taste is so blunt, that they can- 
not distinguish, with any degree of accuracy, the different 
species of that sensation. In others, whether from nature or 
from habit, this sense is so acute, that they can perceive the 
nicest distinctions in the savor of solids and of liquids. 



TASTING* 121 

Though the sense of taste varies in some individuals, yet, 
like figurative taste, the standard of agreeable and disagree- 
able, of pleasant and painful, is almost universally diffused 
over mankind and the brute creation. Every horse, and 
every ox, when in a natural state, eats or rejects the same 
species of food. But men in society, as well as domestic ani- 
mals, are induced by habit, by necessity, or by imitation, to 
acquire a taste for many dishes, and combinations of sub- 
stances, which, before the natural, discriminating sense is per- 
verted, would be rejected with disgust. 

Some individuals of the human species have an aversion to 
particular kinds of food, which are generally agreeable. This 
aversion may be either original or acquired. I knew a child, 
who, from the moment he was weaned, could never be in- 
duced to take milk of any kind. These original aversions 
must be ascribed to some peculiar modification in the struc- 
ture of the organ, or in the disposition of its nerves. But, in 
general, disgust at particular foods is produced by surfeits, 
which injure the stomach, and create in that exquisitely irri- 
table viscus an insuperable antipathy to receive nourishment 
which formerly gave it so much uneasiness to digest. 

Brute animals, especially those which feed upon herbage, 
and are not liable to be corrupted by example or necessity, 
distinguish tastes with wonderful accuracy. By the applica- 
tion of the tongue, they instantly perceive whether any plant 
is salutary or noxious. To enable them, amidst a thousand 
plants, to make this discrimination, their nervous papillae, 
and their tongues, are proportionally much larger than those 
of man. ' This sense indeed seems particularly intended as 
a guard to the digestive organs, and to be subservient to 
them; and this more especially in other animals than in 
man, who is accustomed to depend upon his judgment and 
experience, rather than his taste, in the selection of articles 
of food. Still that which is salutary for the stomach, is 
generally pleasant to the taste. It is probable that all ani- 
mals possess the sense of taste, to enable them to make choice 
of and enjoy their food, and tbat, in all of them, the sense 
resides in those organs which are employed in receiving and 
swallowing it/ 
11 



122 SENSES. 



Of Hearing. 

The sensation of hearing is conveyed to the mind by undu- 
lations of air striking the ear, an organ of a very delicate and 
complex structure. In quadrupeds, the external ears are 
large, and provided with muscles, by which they can erect 
and move them from side to side, in order to catch the undu- 
lations produced in the air by the vibrations of sonorous 
bodies, or to distinguish with greater accuracy the species of 
sound, and the nature and situation of the animal or object 
from which it proceeds. Though the human ears, like those 
of quadrupeds, are furnished with muscles, evidently intended 
for similar movements, yet, I know not for what reasons, 
there is not one man in a million who has the power of mov- 
ing his ears. When we listen to a feeble sound, we are con- 
scious of an exertion; but that exertion, and the motions 
produced by it, are confined to the internal parts of the organ. 

The canals or passages to the internal parts of the ear 
are cylindrical, somewhat contorted, and become gradually 
smaller till they reach the membrane which covers what is 
called the drum of the ear. This membrane, which is ex- 
tremely sensible when acted upon by undulations of air, how- 
ever excited, conveys, by means of a complex apparatus of 
bones, nerves, &/C, the sensation of sound to the brain or 
sentient principle. 

Infants hear bluntly, because the bones of their ears are 
soft and cartilaginous ; and, of course, the tremulations ex- 
cited in them by the motions of the air, are comparatively 
weak. Young children, accordingly, are extremely fond of 
noise. It rouses their attention, and conveys to them the 
agreeable sensation of sound ; but feeble sounds are not per- 
ceived, which gives infants, like deaf persons, the appearance 
of inattention, or rather of stupidity. 

' That air is the medium by which sounds are propagated, 
has been established by repeated experiments. The sound 
of a bell suspended in the receiver of an air-pump, gradually 
diminishes as the air is exhausted, till it almost entirely 
ceases to be heard. On the other hand, when the quantity 
of air is increased by a condenser, the intensity of the sound 
is proportionally augmented. It has also been proved that 
sounds actually produced, cannot be transmitted through a 
vacuum, or a space deprived of air. 

1 The undulations of the air by which sounds are produced 



HEARING. 123 

have been illustrated by comparing them to the little circular 
waves or undulations which are produced when a stone is 
thrown into stagnant water. Similar motions are probably 
produced in the air by the vibrations of sonorous bodies. 
The celerity with which sounds, or undulations of air, move, 
has been computed. All sounds, whether acute or grave, 
strong or weak, move at the average rate of 1142 feet in a 
second of time. Hence, whenever lightning, or the fire of 
artillery, is seen, its distance may be ascertained by determin- 
ing the interval which elapses before the thunder or the re- 
port is heard.* 

1 The force or intensity of sound is augmented by reflection 
from surrounding bodies. It is from this cause that the hu- 
man voice, or any other noise, is always weaker and less dis- 
tinctly heard in the open air than in a house. A musket 
discharged upon a wide and extensive plain, sounds but little 
louder than the burning of a squib, whilst, among buildings 
or hills, where there are a thousand reverberations, its report 
is very loud.' 

The modifications of sound are not less various than those 
of tastes or odors. The ear is capable of distinguishing some 
hundred tones in sound, and probably as many degrees of 
strength in the same tones. By combining these, many thou- 
sand simple sounds, which differ either in tone or in strength, 
are perceived and distinguished by the ear. A violin, a flute, 
a French-horn, may each of them give the same tone; but 
the ear easily makes the distinction. The immense variety 
of sensations, arising from the organs of smelling, of tasting, 
and of hearing, enables animals to judge concerning the na- 
ture and situation of external objects. By habit we learn to 
know the bodies from which particular species of sound pro- 
ceed. Previous to all experience, we could not distinguish 
whether a sound came from the right or the left, from above 
or below, from a greater or a smaller distance, or whether 
it was the sound of a coach, of a drum, of a bell, or of an 
animal. 

Hearing enables us to perceive all the agreeable sensations 
conveyed to our minds by the melody and harmony of sounds. 
This, to man at least, is a great source of pleasure and of 
innocent amusement. But some men are almost totally des- 
titute of the faculty of distinguishing musical sounds, and of 

* * It has been lately ascertained that the velocity of sound is considerably affect- 
ed by different states of the atmosphere and of the weather, and by the wind. The 
lowest rate of its velocity is 1099, the highest 1164 feet per second.' 



124 SENSES. 

perceiving those delightful and diversified feelings excited by 
the various combinations of musical tones. Most men de- 
rive pleasure from particular species of music. But a musical 
ear, in a restricted sense, is by no means a general qualifica- 
tion. An ear for music, however, though not to be acquired 
by study, when the faculty itself is wanting, may be highly 
improved by habit and culture. BufTon, after examining a 
number of persons who had no ear for music, says, that every 
one of them heard worse in one ear than in the other ; and 
ascribes their inability of distinguishing musical expression 
to that defect. But a musical ear seems to have no depend- 
ence on acuteness or bluntness of hearing, whether in one 
or in both ears. There are many examples of people who 
may be said to be half deaf, and yet are both fond of music 
and skilful practitioners. An ear for music, like a genius for 
painting or poetry, is a gift of Nature, and is born with the 
possessor. 

Beside the innumerable pleasures we derive from music 
and agreeable sounds, the extension and improvement of arti- 
ficial language must be considered as objects of the greatest 
importance to the human race. Without the sense of hear- 
ing, mankind would forever have remained mute. I mention 
artificial, or improved language, because, from a thousand 
observations which every person must have made, it is per- 
fectly apparent, that, if destitute of a natural language, neither 
man nor the brute creation could possibly have existed and 
continued their species. As brutes, without information or 
experience, are capable of communicating to each other, by 
particular sounds and gestures, their pleasures and pains, 
their wants and desires, it would be the highest absurdity to 
suppose that the great Creator should have denied to man, 
the noblest animal that inhabits this globe, the same indis- 
pensable privilege. Without a basis there can be no fabric. 
Without a natural, no artificial language eould possibly 
have existed. This point is clearly demonstrated, in a few 
words, by that most ingenious, candid, and profound philoso- 
pher, Dr. Thomas Reid, formerly Professor of Moral Philoso- 
phy in the university of Glasgow. ' If mankind/ says Dr. Reid, 
' had not a natural language, they could never have invented 
an artificial one by their reason and ingenuity. For all arti- 
ficial language supposes some compact or agreement to affix 
a certain meaning to certain signs ; therefore, there must be 
compacts or agreements before the use of artificial signs ; 
but there can be no compact or agreement without signs, nor 



TOUCH, 125 



without language ; and therefore there must be a natural lan- 
guage before any artificial language can be invented/' * 

Of Touch. 

The sensations of smelling, tasting, hearing, and seeing, 
are conveyed to us by partial organs, which are all confined 
to the head. But the sense of touching, or of feeling, is not 
only common to these organs, but extends over almost every 
part of the body, whether external or internal. Though every 
sensation may be comprehended under the general appella- 
tion of feeling, yet what is called the sense of touch is 
properly restricted to the different sensations excited by 
bodies applied to the skin, and particularly to the tips of the 
fingers. 

With regard to sensation in general, it is worthy of remark, 
that the eyes, the ears, the nostrils, the tongue and palate, 
the palms of the hands, especially towards the points of the 
fingers, are more amply supplied with nerves than any other 
external parts of the body. The terminations of the nerves 
on the surface of the skin are soft and pulpy, and form minute 
protuberances, resembling the nap of frieze cloth, though 
greatly inferior in magnitude. These protuberances have re- 
ceived the denomination of nervus papillm. They might 
be called animal feelers ; for they are obviously the immediate 
instruments of sensation. If an object be presented to the 
eye, or any other organ of sensation, certain feelings are ex- 
cited, which are either agreeable or disagreeable, according 
to the real or imaginary qualities which we consider as be- 
longing to that object. The feelings thus excited instantly 
produce a change in the sensitive organs by which they are 
occasioned. If the object be possessed of disagreeable quali- 
ties, aversion is the necessary consequence. But, if beauty 
and utility are perceived in the object, pleasant emotions 
spring up in the mind, which naturally induce a similar tone 
or disposition in the organs suited for the enjoyment of these 
qualities. 

When examining or enjoying any object, it is natural to 
inquire, what are the changes produced in the nervous papillae 
or organs of sensation. If an object possessed of agreeable 
feelings is perceived, the nervous papillae instantly extend 
themselves, and, from a state of rlaccidity, become compara- 

* Dr. Reid's Inquiry on the Human Mind, on the Principles of Common Sense. — S 
11* 



126 SENSES. 

tively rigid. This extension of the papillae is no( conjectural } 
it is founded on anatomical observation, and, in some cases^ 
may be seen and felt by persons of acute and discerning sen- 
sations. When a man in the dark inclines to examine any 
substance, in order to discover its figure, or other qualities, 
he perceives a kind of rigidity at the tips of his fingers. If 
the fingers are kept long in this state, the rigidity of the 
nervous papillae will give him a kind of pain or anxiety, which 
it is impossible to describe. The cause of this pain is an 
over-distention of the papillae If a small insect creeps on a 
man's hand, when the papillae are flaccid, its movements are 
not perceived ; but, if he happens to direct his eye to the 
animal, he immediately extends his papillae, and feels distinctly 
all its motions. If a body be present, which, in the common 
state of the nerves, has scarcely any sensible order, by ex- 
tending the papillae of the nostrils, an agreeable, disagreeable, 
or indifferent smell will be perceived. When two persons 
are whispering, and we wish to know what is said, we stretch 
the papillae, and other organs of hearing, which are exceed- 
ingly complex. If a sound is too low for making an im- 
pression on the papillae in their natural state of relaxation, 
we are apt to overstretch the organ, which produces a pain- 
ful or irksome feeling. When we examine a mite, or any 
very minute object by the naked eye, a pain is propagated 
over every part of that organ. Several causes may concur in 
producing this pain, such as the dilating of the pupil, and the 
adjusting the crystalline fens ; but the chief cause must be 
ascribed to the preternatural intumescence and extension of 
the papillae of the retina, the substance of which is a mere 
congeries of nervous terminations. This circumstance con- 
firms a former remark, that the immediate organs of sensation 
are more copiously supplied with nervous papillae than those 
parts whose uses require not such exquisite sensibility ; for a 
distinction in this respect is observable even among the senr 
sitive organs themselves. They are furnished with nerves 
exactly proportioned to the subtilty of the objects whose im- 
pressions they are fitted to receive. The eye possesses by 
far the greatest number. The particles of light are so minute, 
that, had not this wise provision been observed in the con- 
struction of the eye, it could never have been able to distin- 
guish objects with such accuracy as at present it is capable 
of performing. When an insipid body, or a body which 
conveys but a feeble sensation of taste, is applied to the 
tongue, we are conscious of an effort which that organ makes 



TOUCH* 127 

in order to discover the quality of the body thus applied. 
This effort is nothing bat the stretching of the nervous papillae, 
that they may enlarge the field of contact with the body under 
examination. 

The pleasure or pain produced by the sense of touch, de- 
pends chiefly upon the friction, or number of impulses, made 
upon the papillae. Embrace any agreeable body with your 
hand, and allow it to remain perfectly at rest, and you will 
find the pleasure not half so exquisite as when the hand is 
gently moved backward and forward upon the surface. Apply 
the hand to a piece of velvet, and it is merely agreeable ; run 
the hand repeatedly on the surface of the cloth, and the 
pleasant feeling will be augmented in proportion to the num- 
ber of impulses on the papillae, When a man is pinched 
with hunger, the sight or idea of palatable food raises the 
whole papillae of his tongue and stomach. From this circum- 
stance he is highly regaled by eating. But if he eats the 
same species of food when his stomach is less keen, the pleas- 
ure in the one case is not to be compared with what is felt in 
the other. The cause is obvious ; his desire was not so ur- 
gent ; the object, of course, was less alluring ; and therefore 
he was more remiss in erecting his papillae, or in putting them 
in a tone suited to such eminent gratification. 

The same observations are applicable to disagreeable or 
painful objects of contact. If the hand is laid upon a gritty 
stone, or a piece of rusty iron, the feeling is disagreeable ; 
but if it is frequently rubbed upon the surface of these bodies 
the feeling becomes insufferably irksome. 

It is by the sense of touch, that men and other animals are 
enabled to perceive and determine many qualities of external 
bodies. By this sense we acquire the ideas of hardness and 
softness, of roughness and smoothness, of heat and cold, of 
pressure and weight, of figure and of distance. The sense of 
touch is more uniform, and liable to fewer deceptions, than 
those of smelling, tasting, hearing, and seeing; because, in 
examining the qualities of objects, the bodies themselves must 
be brought into actual contact with the organ, without the 
intervention of any medium, the variations of which might 
mislead the judgment. 

6 The accuracy of this sense is much improved by habit ; 
and in some cases where the senses of sight or hearing have 
been injured, this has acquired so great a degree of sensibil- 
ity, as in a measure to supply their loss. Thus, blind men 
are sometimes able to distinguish the qualities of objects with 



128 SENSES. 

a wonderful degree of exactness, by the sense of touch ; and 
the power they frequently possess of determining when they 
approach a wall, has been attributed in part to their percep- 
tion of the effects produced upon the skin by the air, either 
on account of the change in the degree of its resistance, or 
from some other alteration in it with which we are unac- 
quainted.' 



Of Seeing, 

Of all the senses, that of seeing is unquestionably the 
noblest, the most refined, and the most extensive. The ear 
informs us of the existence of objects at comparatively small 
distances ; and its information is often imperfect and falla- 
cious. But the organ of sight, which is most admirably con« 
structed, not only enables us to perceive thousands of objects 
at one glance, together with their various figures, colors, and 
apparent positions, but, even when unassisted, to form ideas 
of the sun and planets, and of many of the fixed stars; and 
thus connects us with bodies so remote, that imagination is 
lost when it attempts to form a conception of their immense 
magnitude and distances. This natural field of vision, how- 
ever great, has been vastly extended by the invention of 
optical instruments. When aided by the telescope, the eye 
penetrates into regions of space, and perceives stars innumer- 
able, which, without the assistance of art, would to us have 
no existence. Our ideas of the beauty, magnitude, and re- 
moteness or vicinity of external objects, are chiefly derived 
from this delicate and acute instrument of sensation. 

i The globe of the eye is contained within two coats, the 
cornea and the sclerotica. The cornea is that circular trans- 
parent membrane which covers a part of the anterior portion 
of the eye, and through whose central part is seen the pupil. 
It gives a passage to the rays of light, and presents the ap- 
pearance of a dark circle, when contrasted with the white of 
the eye. The remaining external covering of the organ is 
formed by the sclerotic coat. This, where it is visible, is of 
a bluish-white color, and is called the white of the eye. These 
two coats together form a globe or ball, within which are con- 
tained the immediate instruments of vision, consisting of the 
iris, the humors of the eye, and the retina. The iris is that 
colored circle which surrounds the pupil within the cornea, 
and gives the peculiar color to the eye. It is an extremely 



SEEING. 129 

sensible membrane, placed as a sort of guard to the delicate 
organs within, to protect them from any sudden changes of 
light. When the light is strong, the fibres of the iris dilate 
towards the centre, and the pupil consequently becomes 
smaller, so that fewer rays are admitted. When the light is 
weak, the pupil becomes larger, and admits a larger number 
of rays. 

' The humors of the eye are three in number, the aqueous, 
the crystalline, and the vitreous. The crystalline humor is 
a double convex lens, situated a little way behind the iris. 
The space which intervenes between this lens and the cornea 
is filled up by the aqueous humor. This is nearly of the 
consistence of water, and surrounds the iris entirely, permit- 
ting its light and delicate fibres to float freely in it. The 
vitreous humor occupies the remaining back part of the eye. 
It is contained in a great number of thin, membranaceous, 
and transparent cells, which, when punctured, pour out a fluid 
of the consistence of the white of an egg. The rays of light, 
in passing through the humors, are refracted, become con 
centrated, and produce an image upon the retina. This is a 
membrane formed by the optic nerve, which enters from the 
brain, is spread out on the inner surface of the . back part of 
the eye, and receives the impressions made by the rays of 
light, after they have been concentrated by the humors. This 
impression is transmitted to the brain, and is the immediate 
cause of vision.' 

By this curious apparatus, all the phenomena of vision are 
conveyed to the mind. But before we enter upon the man- 
ner in which the different parts of the eye concur in trans- 
mitting the rays of light and the images of objects to the re- 
tina, it will be necessary to give some general ideas concern- 
ing the nature of light, which is the universal medium 
of vision, 

Light is supposed to consist of innumerable particles of 
matter, which proceed in direct lines from every part of lu- 
minous bodies, and constitute rays. The motion of light, 
though not instantaneous, is inconceivably swift. It has been 
discovered by philosophers, that rays of light coming from 
the sun reach this earth in eight minutes. Now the distance 
of the earth from the sun is so immense, that, supposing a 
cannon-ball to move at the rate of five hundred feet in a 
second, it could not come from the sun to the earth in less 
than twenty-five years. At this rate, the velocity of light will 
be above ten million times greater than that of a cannon-ball. 



130 SENSES. 

The rays of light, though they proceed in direct lines from 
luminous bodies, are refracted, or bent out of their course, in 
passing through different mediums, as the air, glass, and 
every transparent substance ; but when they fall upon opaque 
bodies, they are reflected. Rays proceeding from any object, 
and passing through a convex glass, or lens, are refracted 
and collected into a point, or small space, at a certain dis- 
tance from the glass, which is called the focus of that lens. 

The different humors of the eye, and the crystalline lens, 
are all denser than air or water ; of course, their power of 
refracting the rays of light is likewise greater. The rays, 
proceeding from every point of an object, enter the pupil ; 
and the refraction of the different parts of the eye, which act 
as a lens, necessarily makes them cross each other in their 
passage to the retina. After crossing, they diverge till they 
are stopped by the retina, where they form an inverted pic- 
ture. The upper part of the object is painted on the lower 
part of the retina, and the right side upon the left, &,c. The 
celebrated Kepler first discovered, that distinct, but inverted 
pictures of every object we behold, are painted on the retina 
by the rays of light proceeding from visible objects. This 
discovery naturally led Kepler, as well as many other philos- 
ophers since his time, to inquire how we should see objects 
erect from inverted images on the retina. 

Many ingenious theories have been invented, in order to 
explain this seemingly difficult question. To give even a 
cursory view of them would not only be tedious, but in a great 
measure useless. We shall therefore only remark, that their 
authors have uniformly assumed the principle, without prov 
ing it, that because the pictures are inverted on the retina, 
the mind ought also to perceive them in the same position. 
But this does by no means follow, and we can only resolve it 
into this, that animals see objects in their real position, 
although their images are inverted by a law of nature. It is 
certain, that, unless distinct images are painted on the retina, 
objects cannot be clearly perceived. If, from too little light, 
remoteness, or any other cause, a picture is indistinctly painted 
on the retina, an obscure or indistinct idea of the object is 
conveyed to the mind. The picture on the retina, there- 
fore, is so far the cause of vision, that unless this picture be 
clear and well defined, our ideas of the figure, color, and 
other qualities of any object presented to the eye, will be ob- 
scure and imperfect. The retina of the eye resembles a can- 
vass on which objects are painted. The colors of these pic- 



RJtiMMp. 131 

lures are bright or obscure, in proportion to the distances of 
the objects represented. When objects are very remote, 
their pictures on the retina are so faint, that they are entirely 
obliterated by the vigorous and lively impressions of nearer 
objects, with which we are every way surrounded. On the 
other hand, when near objects emit a feeble light only, com- 
pared with that which proceeds from a remote object, as, for 
example, when we view luminous bodies in the night, then 
very distant objects make distinct pictures on the retina, and 
become perfectly visible. Hence a man, by placing himself 
in a dark situation, and looking through a long tube, without 
the intervention of a glass, may make a kind of telescope, 
which will have a considerable effect, even during the day. 
For the same reason, a man at the bottom of a deep pit can 
see the stars at noon. 

Another question with regard to vision has been much 
agitated by philosophers. Because a separate image of every 
object is painted on the retina of each eye, it was concluded, 
that we naturally see all objects double ; that we learn to 
correct this error of vision by the sense of touching ; and that 
if the sense of seeing were not constantly rectified by that of 
touching, we should be perpetually deceived as to the posi- 
tion, number, and situation of objects. The Count de Buffon 
mentions the real fact, though he ascribes it to a wrong cause. 
4 When two images/ says he, \ fall on corresponding parts 
of the retinae, or those parts which are always affected at the 
same time, objects appear single, because we are accustomed 
to judge of them in this manner. But when the images of 
objects fall upon parts of the retinae which are not usually 
affected at the same time, they then appear double, because 
we have not acquired the habit of rectifying this unusual sen- 
sation. Mr. Cheselden, in his anatomy, relates the case of a 
man who had been affected with a strabismus, or squinting, 
in consequence of a blow on the head. This man saw every 
object double for a long time ; but he gradually learned to 
correct this error of vision, with regard to objects which were 
familiar to him ; and, at last, he saw every object single as 
formerly, though the squinting was never removed. This is 
a proof still more direct, that we really see all objects double, 
and that it is by habit alone we learn to conceive them to be 
single.' * 

In this, and other passages, the Count de Buffon has pointed 
out the genuine cause (or ultimate fact) why we see ob- 

* Buffon, Vol. III. p. 7. Trans.— S. 



133 SENSES* 

jects single with two eyes, He tells us, that though a dis- 
tinct image is painted on each retina, whenever these images 
are painted on corresponding points of the retinae, an object 
is perceived to be single, It is equally true, that, when one 
eye is distorted by the finger, or any other cause, in such a 
manner that the images are painted on points of the retinae 
which do not correspond, the object is perceived to be double, 
Objects which are much nearer, or much more remote, 
than that to which both eyes are directed, appear double. 
If a candle is placed at the distance of ten feet, and a man 
holds his finger at arm's length between his eyes and the can- 
dle, when he looks at the candle, he sees his finger double, 
and when he looks at his finger, he sees the candle double. 
• In this phenomenon/ Dr. Reid properly remarks, ' it is 
evident to those who understand optics, that the pictures of 
objects which are seen double, do not fall upon the points of 
the retinae which are similarly situated, but that the pictures 
of objects seen singly do fall upon points similarly situated. 
Whence we infer that as the points of the two retina?, which 
are similarly situated with regard to the centres, do corre- 
spond, so those which are dissimilarly situated, do not corre- 
spond. It is to be observed, that although, in such cases as 
are mentioned in the last phenomenon, we have been accus- 
tomed from infancy to see objects double, which we know to 
be single, yet custom and experience of the unity of the object 
never take away this appearance of duplicity/ * 

The sense of seeing, without the aid of experience, conveys 
no idea of distance. If not assisted by the sense of touching, 
all objects would seem to be in contact with the eye itself. 
Objects appear larger or smaller according as they approach 
or recede from the eye, or according to the angle they sub- 
tend. A fly, when very near the eye, seems to be larger than 
a horse or an ox at a distance. Children can have no idea 
of the relative magnitude of objects, because they have no 
notion of the different distances at which they are seen. It 
is only after measuring space by extending the hand, or by 
transporting their bodies from one place to another, that chil- 
dren acquire just ideas concerning the real distances and 
magnitudes of objects. Their ideas of magnitude result en- 
tirely from the angle formed by the extreme rays reflected 
from the superior and inferior parts of the object : hence every 
near object must appear to be large, and every distant one 
small. But after having, by touch, acquired ideas of distances, 

* Dr. Reid's Inquiry, &c. p. 287.— S. 



SEEING, 133 

the judgment concerning magnitude begins to be rectified. 
If we judge solely by the eye, and have not acquired the 
habit of considering the same objects to be equally large, though 
seen at different distances, the nearest of two men, though of 
equal size, would seem to be many times larger than the 
farthest. But we know that the last man is equally large with 
the first; and, therefore, we judge him to be of the same 
dimensions. Any distance ceases to be familiar to us, when 
the interval is vertical, instead of being horizontal ; because 
all the experiments by which w T e usually rectify the errors of 
vision, with regard to distances, are made horizontally. We 
have not the habit of judging concerning the magnitude of 
objects which are much elevated above or sunk below us. 
This is the reason thatj when viewing men from the top of a 
tower, or when looking up to a globe or a cock on the top of 
a steeple, we think these objects much smaller than when seen 
at equal distances in a horizontal direction. During the night, 
on account of the darkness, we have no proper idea of dis- 
tance, and, of course, judge of the magnitude of objects solely 
by the largeness of the angle or image formed in the eye, 
which necessarily produces a variety of deceptions. When 
travelling in the night, we are liable to mistake a bush that is 
near us for a tree at a distance, or a distant tree for a bush 
which is at hand. When benighted in a part of the country 
with which we are unacquainted, and of course unable to 
judge of the distance and figure of objects, we are every mo- 
ment liable to all the deceptions of vision. This is the origin 
of that dread which some men feel in the dark, and of those 
ghosts and horrible figures which so many people positively 
assert they have seen in the night. Such figures are com- 
monly said to exist in imagination only ; but they often have 
a real existence in the eye ; for, when we have no other mode 
of recognizing unknown objects but by the angle they form 
in the eye, their magnitude is uniformly augmented in propor- 
tion to their vicinity. If an object at the distance of twenty 
or thirty paces, appears to be only a few feet high, its height, 
when viewed within two or three feet of the eye, will seem to 
be many fathoms. Objects in this situation must excite ter- 
ror and astonishment in the spectator, till he approaches and 
recognizes them by actual feeling ; for, the moment a man 
examines an object properly, the gigantic figure it assumed in 
the eye instantly vanishes, and its apparent magnitude is re- 
duced to its real dimensions. But if, instead of approaching 
an object of this kind, the spectator flies from it, he retains 
12 



134 INFANCY. 

the idea which the image of it formed in his eye, and he may 
affirm with truth, that he beheld an object terrible in its aspect, 
and enormous in its size. Hence the notion of spectres, and 
of horrible figures, is founded in nature, and depends not 
solely on imagination. 

When we have no idea of the distance of objects by a pre- 
vious knowledge of the space between them and the eye, we 
try to judge of their magnitudes by recognizing their figures. 
But when their figures are not distinguishable, we perceive 
those which are most brilliant in color to be nearest, and 
those that are most obscure to be at the greatest distance. 
From this mode of judging many deceptions originate. When 
a number of objects are placed in a right line, as lamps in a 
long street, we cannot judge of their proximity or remoteness 
but by the different quantities of light they transmit to the 
eye. Of course, if the lamps nearest the eye happen to be 
more obscure than those which are more remote, the first will 
appear to be last, and the last first. 



CHAPTER V. 

OF INFANCY. 



By the term Infancy is meant that portion of life which 
commences at birth, and terminates at the period when ani- 
mals have acquired the power of self-preservation, without 
any assistance from their parents. This period varies greatly 
in different animals. Of course, when different species are 
mentioned, the term infancy must have very different limita- 
tions with regard to time. 

The state of infancy, in the human species, continues 
longer than in any other animal. Infants, immediately after 
birth, are indeed extremely helpless, and require every assist- 
ance and attention from the mother. Most writers, however, 
on this subject, seem to have exaggerated not only the imbe- 
cility, but the miseries of the infant state. 

Though infants remain longer in a state of imbecility than 
the young of other animals, they are by no means more help- 
less. The instant after birth, they are capable of sucking 
whatever is presented to their mouths. When in the same 



INFANCY. 135 

condition, the young of the opossum, of hares, rabbits, rats, 
mice, &>c, can do no more. They can neither move nor sup- 
port their bodies. Besides, many quadrupeds are destitute 
of the sense of seeing for several days after birth. But the 
faculty of vision is enjoyed by infants the moment after they 
come into the world. This faculty, in a few hours, becomes 
a great source of pleasure and amusement to them ; but it is 
denied, for some days, to many other species of animals. The 
young of most birds are equally weak and helpless as human 
infants. If infants really suffer more pain and misery than 
other animals in the same state, Nature seems not to merit 
that severity of censure which she has sometimes received. 
Men in society, like domestic animals, by luxury, by artificial 
modes of living, by unnatural and vicious habits, debilitate 
their bodies, and transmit to their progeny the seeds of weak- 
ness and disease, the effects of which are not felt by those 
who live more agreeably to the general economy and inten- 
tions of Nature. The children of savages, for the same reason, 
whether in the hunting or shepherd state, are more robust, 
more healthy, and liable to fewer diseases, than those produced 
by men in the more enlightened and refined stages of society. 
Even under the same governments, and in the same state of 
civilization, a similar gradation of imbecility and disease is to 
be observed. The children of men of rank or fortune are, 
in general, more puny, debilitated, and diseased than those 
of the peasant or artificer. Still, however, children, in their 
progress from birth to maturity, have innumerable sources of 
pleasure, which alleviate, if they do not fully compensate, the 
pain which must unavoidably be endured, whether in a more 
natural or more artificial state of mankind. If luxury and 
civilization debilitate the constitutions of children, they give 
rise to many real enjoyments which are totally unknown to 
the savage. His wants are fewer ; but his gratifications are 
more than proportionally diminished. 

From what causes or circumstances particular modes in the 
management of infants originate, it is difficult to determine. 
But it is certain that savages, and the ruder nations, in their 
treatment of infants, often discover more discernment and 
propriety of conduct, than are to be found in the most pol- 
ished stages of society. The negroes, the savages of Canada, 
of Virginia, of Brazil, and the natives of almost the whole of 
South America, lay their infants naked into hammocks, or 
hanging beds of cotton, or into cradles lined with fur. The 
Peruvians leave the arms of their infants perfectly loose in a 



186 INFANCY. 

kind of swathing-bag. When a little older, they are put, up 
to the middle, in a hole dug out of the earth, and lined with 
linen or cotton. By this contrivance, their arms and head are 
perfectly free, and they can bend their bodies, and move their 
arms and head, without the smallest danger of falling, or of 
receiving any injury. To entice them to walk, whenever 
they are able to step, the breast is presented to them at a lit- 
tle distance. The children of negroes, when very young, 
cling round, with their knees and legs, one of their mother's 
haunches, and grasp the breast with their hands. In this posi- 
tion they adhere so firmly, that they support themselves without 
any assistance, and continue to suck without danger of falling, 
though the mother moves forward, or works at her usual labor. 
These children, at the end of the second month, begin to 
creep on their hands and knees; and, in this situation, they 
acquire, by habit, the faculty of moving with surprising 
quickness. 

Many savages are remarkably attentive to the cleanliness 
of their children. Though they cannot afford to change their 
furs so frequently as we do our linen, this defect they supply 
by other substances of no value. The savages of North 
America put wood-dust, obtained from decayed trees, into the 
bottom of the cradle, and renew it as often as it is necessary. 
Upon this powder the children are laid and covered with skins. 
This powder is very soft, and quickly absorbs moisture of 
every kind. The children in Virginia are placed naked upon 
a board covered with cotton. This practice is, likewise, al- 
most general in the eastern parts of Europe, and particularly 
in Turkey. 

Many northern nations plunge their infants, immediately 
after birth, into cold water, without their receiving any injury. 
The Laplanders expose their new-born infants on the snow 
till they are almost dead with cold, and then throw them into 
a warm bath. During the first year, this seemingly harsh 
treatment is repeated three times every day. After that pe- 
riod, the children are bathed in cold water thrice every week. 
It is a general opinion in northern regions, that cold bathing 
renders men more healthy and robust ; and hence they inure 
their children, from their very birth, to this habit. 

With regard to the food of infants, it should consist, for the 
first few months, of the mother's milk alone. A child may be 
injured by allowing it, during that period, any other nourish- 
ment. In Holland, in Italy, in Turkey, and over the whole 
Levant, children, during the first year, are not permitted to 



INFANCY. 137 

taste any other food. The Canadian savages nurse their chil- 
dren four or five years, and sometimes six or seven. In cases 
of necessity, the milk of quadrupeds may supply that of the 
mother. But, in such cases, it is best the child should draw 
it from the animal; for the degree of heat is always uniform 
and proper, and the milk, by the action of the muscles, is 
mixed with the saliva, which is a great promoter of digestion. 
Several robust peasants have been known to have had no other 
nurses than ewes. After two or three months, children may 
be gradually accustomed to food somewhat more solid than 
milk. Before the teeth shoot through the gums, infants are 
incapable of mastication. During that period, therefore, it is # 
obvious that Nature intended they should be nourished solely 
by soft substances. But after they are furnished with teeth, 
it is equally obvious that they should occasionally be allowed 
food of a more solid texture. 

The lives of children, during the first three or four years, 
are extremely precarious. After that period, their existence 
becomes gradually more certain. According to Simpson's 
tables of the degrees of mortality in London at different ages, 
it appears, that, of a certain number of infants brought forth 
at the same time, more than a fourth part died the first year, 
more than a third in two years, and at least one half at the 
end of the third year. But the mortality of children is not 
nearly so great in every place ; for, by a number of obser- 
vations made in France, it has been shown, that one half of 
the children born at the same time are not extinct in less than 
seven or eight years. 

To treat of the diseases of children, or to enter minutely 
into the causes which contribute to the great mortality of 
mankind in early infancy, is no part of our plan. In general, 
these causes are to be referred to unnatural practices in the 
management of children, introduced by superstition, by igno- 
rance, and by foolish notions arising from over-refinement, 
from prejudice, and from hypothetical systems, while the 
economy and analogy of Nature, in the conduct and situation 
of the inferior animals, are almost totally neglected. An 
infant is no sooner brought into the world, than it is cram- 
med with physic. Nature's medicine for cleansing the bow- 
els of infants is the milk of the mother. But nurses absurdly 
imagine that drugs will answer this purpose much better. 
All other animals that give suck, nurse their own offspring ; 
but we too frequently delegate this tender and endearing 
office to strange women, whose constitutions, habits of life, 
12* 



138 INFANCY 

and mental dispositions, are often totally different from those 
of the genuine parent. Infants, recently after birth, fre- 
quently suffer from giving them, instead of the mother's milk, 
wine-whey, water-gruel, and similar unnatural kinds of nour- 
ishment. In this period of their existence, however, very 
little food, but a great deal of rest, is necessary for promoting 
their health, and securing their ease and tranquillity; for 
infants, when not teased by officious cares, sleep almost con- 
tinually during several weeks after birth. Young animals are 
naturally fond of being in the open air; but our infants, par- 
ticularly in large towns, are almost perpetually shut up in 
warm apartments, which both relaxes their bodies and ener- 
vates their minds. The great agility, strength, and fine pro- 
portions of savages, are results of a hardy education, of living 
much in the open air, and of an unrestrained use of all their 
organs the moment they come into the world. 

In young animals, as well as in infants, there is a gradual 
progress, both in bodily and mental powers, from birth to 
maturity. These powers are unfolded sooner or later, accord- 
ing to the nature and exigencies of particular species. This 
progress, in man, is very slow. Man acquires not his full 
stature and strength of body till several years after the age of 
puberty ; and with regard to his mind, his judgment and 
other faculties cannot be said to be perfectly ripe before his 
thirtieth year. 

In early infancy, though the impressions received from new 
objects must be strong, the memory appears to be weak. 
Many causes may concur in producing this effect. In this 
period of our existence, almost every object is new, and, of 
course, engrosses the whole attention. Hence the idea of 
any particular object is obliterated by the quick succession 
and novelty of others, joined to the force with which they act 
upon the mind. Haller ascribes this want of recollection to 
a weakness of memory ; but it seems rather to proceed from 
a confusion which necessarily results from the number and 
strong impressions of new objects. The memory ripens not 
so much by a gradual increase in the strength of that faculty, 
as by a diminution in the number and novelty of the objects 
which solicit attention. In a few years children are enabled 
to express all their wants and desires. The number of new 
objects daily diminishes, and the impressions made by those 
with which they are familiar, become comparatively small 
and uninteresting. Hence their habits of attention and the 
ardor of their minds begin to relax. Instead of a general 



ttMttOt, 139 

and undistinguished gratification of their senses, this is the 
period when it is necessary to stimulate children, by various 
artifices, to apply their minds steadily to the examination of 
particular objects, and to the acquisition of new ideas from 
more complicated and refined sources of information. The 
great basis of education is a habit of attention. When this 
important point is gained, the minds of children may be 
moulded into any form. But that restlessness and appetite 
for motion, which Nature, for the wisest purposes, has im- 
planted in the constitution of all young animals, should not 
be too severely checked. Health and vigor of body are the 
surest foundations of strength and improvement of mind. 

The duration of infancy from man to the insect tribes, 
seems, in general, to be proportioned, not to the extent of 
life, but to the sagacity or mental powers of the different 
classes of animated beings. The elephant requires thirty 
years, and the rhinoceros twenty, before they come to perfect 
maturity. But these years mark not the period of infancy ; 
for the animals, in a much shorter time, are capable of pro- 
curing their own food, and are totally independent of any aid 
from their parents. The same remark is applicable to the 
camel, the horse, the larger apes, &c. Their ages of puberty 
are four, two and a half, and three years. But in these quad- 
rupeds, the terminations of infancy are much more early. 
The smaller quadrupeds, as hares, rats, mice, &c, are ma- 
ture at the end of the first year after birth, and the guinea- 
pig and rabbit require only five or six months. There is a 
gradation of mental powers, though not without exceptions, 
from the larger to the more minute quadrupeds ; for the dog 
and fox, whose sagacity is very great, come to maturity in 
one year, and their state of infancy is short. But of all 
animals, the infancy and helpless condition of man are the 
most prolonged ; and the superiority and ductility of his mind 
will not be questioned. 

The infant state of birds is very short. Most of the feath- 
ered tribes arrive at perfection in less than six months ; and 
their sagacity is comparatively limited. 

Fishes receive no aid from their parents. They no sooner 
escape from the eggs of their mother, than they are in a con- 
dition to procure nourishment, and to provide, in some meas- 
ure, for their own safety. Of the sagacity of fishes, owing to 
the element in which they live, we have very little knowledge. 
But their general character is stupidity, joined to a voracious 
and indiscriminating appetite for food. In opposition to an 



140 INFANCY. 

almost genera] law of Nature, which subsists among other 
animals, fishes devour, without distinction, every smaller or 
weaker animal, whether it belongs to a different species, or 
to their own. In animals of a much higher order, voracity 
of appetite is seldom accompanied with ingenuity or elegance 
of taste, When the principal attention of an animal is en- 
grossed with any sensual appetite, it is a fair conclusion that 
the mental powers are weak, because; they are chiefly em- 
ployed upon the grossest of all objects. If this observation be- 
just, fishes must be ranked among the most stupid animals of 
equal magnitude and activity. 

The infant state of insects is a various and complicated, 
subject. After they escape from the egg, they undergo so 
many changes, and assume such a variety of forms, that it is 
difficult to determine the period of their existence, which 
corresponds to the condition of infancy in the larger animals. 
Different kinds remain a longer or shorter time in the form of 
worms and chrysnlids, and then of caterpillars, or grubs, be- 
fore they are ehanged into flies. When young, like other 
animals, they are small and feeble; but even in their most 
helpless condition, with a very few exceptions, Nature is their 
only nurse. They require no aid from their parents, who, in 
general, are totally unacquainted with their progeny. But, 
as formerly observed, when treating of instinct, the mothers 
uniformly deposit their eggs in situations which afford both 
protection and nourishment to their young. The parent fly, 
according to the species, invariably, unless restrained by 
necessity, deposits its eggs upon particular plants, in the 
bodies of other animals, in the earth, or in water. Whenever, 
therefore, an insect receives existence in its primary form, all 
its wants are supplied. Though the mother, after the worms 
issue from the eggs, takes no charge of her offspring, and fre- 
quently does not exist at the time they come forth, yet, by an 
unerring and pure instinct, she uniformly places them in situa- 
tions where the young find proper nourishment, and every 
thing necessary to their feeble condition. 

To this general law, by which insects arc governed, there 
are several exceptions. Bees, and some other flies, not only 
construct nests for their young, but actually iee(\ f and most 
anxiously protect them. 

From what has been said concerning the infancy of ani- 
mals, one general remark merits attention. Nature has uni- 
formly, though by various modes, provided for the nourish- 
ment and preservation of all animated beings while they are 



GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS. 141 

L 

in an infantine state. Though the human species continues 
long in that state, the attachment and solicitude of both 
parents, instead of abating, in proportion to the time and 
labor bestowed on their progeny, constantly augment, and 
commonly remain during life. The reciprocal affection of 
parents and children is one of the greatest sources of human 
happiness. If the love of children were not strong, and if it 
did not increase with time, the labor, the constant attention, 
' the anxiety and fatigue of mothers would be insufferable. 
But here Nature, whose wisdom is always conspicuous, makes 
affection brave every difficulty, and soothe every pain. If a 
child be sickly, and require uncommon care, the exertions of 
the mother are wonderfully supported ; pity unites with love, 
and these two passions become so strong, that hardships and 
fatigue of every kind are suffered with cheerfulness and 
alacrity. 

With regard to the inferior tribes of animals, Nature has 
not been less provident. To quadrupeds and birds she has 
given a strong and marked affection for their offspring, as 
long as parental care is necessary. But whenever the young 
begin to be in a condition to protect and provide for them- 
selves, the attachment of the parents gradually subsides; 
they become regardless of their offspring, at last banish them, 
with blows, from their presence, and, after that period, seem 
to have no knowledge of the objects which so lately engrossed 
all the attention of their minds, and occupied all the industry 
and labor of their bodies. Here the dignity and superiority 
of man appears in a conspicuous light. Instead of losing 
the knowledge of his offspring after they arrive at maturity, 
his affection expands, and embraces grandchildren, and great- 
grandchildren, with equal warmth, as if they had immediatelv 
originated from himself. 



CHAPTER VI. 

OF THE GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS. 

It is a law of nature, that all organized bodies, whether 
animal or vegetable, require food, in order to expand and 
strengthen their parts when young, and to preserve health 



142 GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS. 

and vigor after they have arrived at maturity. The food of 
animals is digested in the stomach and intestines; by this 
process, it is converted into chyle, and absorbed by the lacteal 
vessels in the manner already described. But how this chyle, 
or nutritious matter, after mingling with the general mass of 
blood, contributes to the growth and repairs the waste of ani- 
mal bodies, is a mystery which probably never will be fully 
unfolded by human sagacity. 

1 Various theories have been invented by different philoso- 
phers, with a view to the explanation of this mystery; but 
they have either proved to be entirely without foundation on 
facts, or to be totally inadequate to account for the phenomena 
observed. Our knowledge concerning the nature of nutrition 
and growth, is extremely limited, and must continue to be so. 
We know that, in the animal kingdom, nutrition is performed 
by means of the blood, which is forcibly propelled through 
every part of the body by the action of the heart and arteries; 
and that vegetables, in a similar manner, are nourished by 
the ascension and distribution of the sap. But of the appli- 
cation of the nutritive particles to the various parts of organ- 
ized bodies, and of the manner in which they expand the 
organs, or repair their continual waste and loss of substance, 
we must content ourselves with remaining in perpetual igno- 
rance. It is, however, the opinion of the most rational and 
well-informed physiologists, that the nutritious particles of 
food are conveyed by the arteries, and applied by their ex- 
tremities to the various parts of animal bodies which require 
to be repaired or expanded.' 

In general, the food of animals, and particularly of the 
human species, consists of animal and vegetable substances, 
combined with water, or other fluids. The Gentoo, and some 
other southern nations, live entirely upon vegetable diet. 
From the accounts we have of the different regions of the 
earth, it appears, that the natives of warm climates, where the 
cultivation of plants is practised, employ a greater proportion 
of vegetable food than in the more northern countries. The 
inhabitants of Lapland have little or no dependence on the 
fruits of the earth. They neither sow nor reap. They still 
remain, and, from the nature of their climate, must forever 
remain, in the shepherd state. Their comparative riches con- 
sist entirely of the number of reindeer possessed by indi- 
viduals. Their principal nourishment is derived from the 
flesh and milk of these animals. In autumn, however, they 
catch great multitudes of fowls, most of them of the game 



GROWTH AND POOD OF ANIMALS. 143 

kind, With these, while fresh, they not only supply their 
present wants, but dry and preserve them through the winter. 
I They likewise kill hares, and other animals, which abound in 
the woods and mountains ; but the flesh of the bear is their 
greatest delicacy* In their lakes and rivers they have inex- 
haustible stores of fish, which, in summer and autumn, they 
dry in the sun, or in stoves, and in winter preserve by the 
frost. The Laplanders drink water, or animal oils ; but never 
taste bread or salt. They live in a pure air, and have suffi- 
cient exercise. Their constitutions are attempered to the 
coldness of the climate ; and they are remarkable for vigor 
and longevity. The gout, the stone, the rheumatism, and many 
other diseases which torture the luxurious in milder climes, 
are totally unknown to them. With the few gifts which Na- 
ture has bestowed upon them, they remain satisfied, and live 
happily among their mountains and their storms. If southern 
nations afford examples of people who feed nearly on vegeta- 
bles alone, the Laplanders furnish one of the opposite extreme; 
for they are almost entirely carnivorous. 

To Ngrway, Sweden, Germany, Britain, and the United 
States, the same observation is applicable. In these coun- 
tries animal food is much more used than in France, Spain, 
Italy, Barbary, and the other southern regions of the globe. 
Many reasons may be assigned for these differences in the 
food of nations. The natural productions of the earth depend 
entirely on the climate. In warm climates, the vegetables, 
which grow spontaneously, are both more luxuriant and more 
various. Their fruits, in number and richness, far exceed 
those of colder regions. From this circumstance, the natives 
must be stimulated to use a proportionally greater quantity 
of vegetable food ; and we learn from history, and from trav- 
ellers, that this is actually the case. In cold countries, on 
the contrary, vegetables are not only fewer, but more rigid, 
and contain less nourishment. The inhabitants, accordingly, 
are obliged to live principally on animal substances. If we 
examine the mode of feeding in different nations, it will be 
found, that in proportion as men approach or recede from the 
poles, a greater or less quantity of animal and vegetable sub- 
stances are used in their diet. Custom, laws, and religious 
rites, it must be allowed, produce considerable differences in 
the articles of food, among particular nations, which have no 
dependence on climate, or the natural productions of the 
earth. But when men are not fettered or prejudiced by ex- 
traneous circumstances, or political institutions, the nature of 



144 GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS, 

their food is invariably determined by the climates they in* 
habit. The variety of food, in any country, is likewise greatly 
influenced by culture and by imitation. Commerce occa- 
sionally furnishes new species of food, particularly of the 
vegetable kind. In Scotland, till about the beginning of this 
century, the common people lived almost entirely upon grain. 
Since that period, the culture and use of the potato, of many 
species of coleworts, and of fruits, have been introduced, and 
universally diffused through the nation. 

Whether man was originally intended by Nature to live 
solely upon animal or vegetable food, is a question which has 
been much agitated both by the ancients and the moderns. 
Many facts and circumstances concur in establishing the opin- 
ion, that man was designed to be nourished neither by animals 
nor vegetables solely, but by a mixture of both. Agriculture 
is an art the invention of which must depend on a number of 
fortuitous circumstances. It requires a long succession of 
ages before savage nations learn this art. They depend en- 
tirely for their subsistence upon hunting wild animals, fishing, 
and such fruits as their country happens spontaneously to 
produce. This has uniformly been the manner of living 
among all the savage nations of which we have any proper 
knowledge ; and seems to be a clear proof, that animal food 
is by no means repugnant to the nature of man. Besides, 
the surface of the earth, even in the most luxuriant climates, 
and though assisted by culture, is not capable of producing 
vegetable food in sufficient quantity to support the human 
race, after any region of it has become so populous as Britain, 
France, and many other nations. The general practice of 
mankind, when not restrained by prejudice or superstition, of 
feeding promiscuously on animal or vegetable substances, is 
a strong indication, that man is, partly at least, a carnivorous 
animal. The Gentoos, though their chief diet be vegetables, 
afford no proper argument against this reasoning. They are 
obliged, by their religion, to abstain from the flesh of animals ; 
and they are allowed to use milk, which is a very nourishing 
animal food Notwithstanding this indulgence, the Gentoos 
in general are a meagre, sickly, and feeble race. In hot 
climates, however, a very great proportion of vegetable diet 
may be used without any bad consequences. 

Other arguments, tending to the same conclusion, are de- 
rived, not from the customs or practices of particular nations, 
but from the structure of the human body. All animals 
which feed upon vegetables alone, as formerly remarked, have 



GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS. 145 

Stomachs and intestines proportionally larger than those that 
live solely on animal substances. Man, like the carnivorous 
tribes, is furnished with cutting and canine* teeth, and, like 
the graminivorous, with a double row of grinders. The dimen- 
sions of his stomach and intestines likewise hold a mean pro- 
portion between these two tribes of animals, which differ so 
essentially in their characters and manners. From these and 
similar arguments, I have no hesitation to conclude, that a 
promiscuous use of animal and vegetable substances is no 
deviation from the original nature or destination of mankind, 
whatever country they may inhabit. 

With regard to the different proportions of animal and vege- 
table food which are most accommodated to the health and 
vigor of mankind, no general rule can be given that could be 
applicable to different climates, and to the different constitu- 
tions of individuals. Animal food, it is certain, gives vigor 
to the body, and may be used more liberally by the active 
and laborious, than by those who lead a studious and seden- 
tary life, A great proportion of vegetable food, and particu- 
larly of bread, is considered by the most eminent physicians 
as best adapted for men who are fond of science and literature; 
for full meals of animal food load the stomach, and seldom 
fail to produce dullness, yawning, indolence, and many dis- 
eases which often prove fatal. 

' Man is directed, in the selection of his food, partly by 
accident, and partly by experience and the aid of his senses. 
That which is pleasant to his palate, is generally salutary to 
his stomach ; and by a constant observation of the effects 
produced by different kinds of food, he acquires a considera- 
ble facility in determining what is proper.' Other animals 
select their food instinctively ; and their choice is chiefly 
determined by the sense of smelling. The spaniel hunts his 
prey by the scent: but the greyhound depends principally 
upon the use of his eye. When the greyhound loses sight of 
a hare, he instantly gives up the chase, and looks keenly 
around him, but never applies his nose, in order to discover 
the track. Some rapacious animals, as wolves and ravens, 
discover carrion at distances, which, if we were to judge from 
our own sense of smelling, would appear to be altogether 
incredible. Others, as eagles, hawks, gulls, &c, surprise us 
no less by the acuteness of their sight. They perceive, from 
great heights in the air, mice, small birds, and minute fishes 
in the water. 

One great cause of the diffusion of animals over every part 
13 



146 GROWTH AND FOOD OP ANIMALS, 

of the globe, is to be derived from the diversity of appetites 
for particular species of food, implanted by nature in the 
different tribes. Some fishes are only to be found in certain 
latitudes. Some animals inhabit the frigid, others the torrid 
zone : some frequent deserts, mountains, woods, lakes, and 
meadows. In their choice of situation, they are uniformly 
determined to occupy such places as furnish them with food 
accommodated to their natures. Monkeys, the elephant, and 
rhinoceros, fix on the torrid zone, because they feed on vege- 
tables which flourish there during the whole year. The 
reindeer inhabit the cold regions of the north, because these 
countries produce the greatest quantity of t&e lichen, a species 
of moss, which is their beloved food. The pelican makes 
choice of dry and desert places to lay her eggs. When her 
young are hatched, she is obliged to bring water to them 
from great distances. To enable her to perform this neces- 
sary office, nature has provided her with a large sack, which 
extends from the tip of the upper mandible of her bill to the 
throat, and holds as much water as will supply her brood for 
several days. This water she pours into the nest to cool her 
young, to allay their thirst, and to teach them to swim. Lions, 
tigers, and other rapacious animals, resort to these nests, 
drink the water, and are said not to injure the young. The 
goat ascends the rocky precipice, to crop the leaves of shrubs 
and other favorite plants. The sloth and the squirrel feed 
upon the leaves and the fruit of trees, and are therefore fur- 
nished with feet which enable them to climb. Water-fowls 
live upon fishes, insects, and the eggs of fishes. Their bill, 
neck, wings, legs, and whole structure, are nicely fitted for 
enabling them to catch the food adapted to their natures. 
Their feeding upon the eggs of fishes, accounts for that vari- 
ety of fishes which are often found in lakes and pools on the 
tops of hills, and on high grounds remote from the sea and 
from rivers. The bat and the goat-sucker fly about during 
the night, when the whole air is filled with moths and other 
nocturnal insects. The bear, who acquires a prodigious 
quantity of fat during the summer, retires to his den, when 
provisions fail him, in winter. For some months, he receives 
his sole nourishment from the absorption of the fat which 
had bean previously accumulated in the cellular membrane. 

A glutton, brought from Siberia to Dresden, ate every day, 
says M. Klein, thirty pounds of flesh without being satisfied. 
This fact indicates an amazing digestive power in so small a 
quadruped ; for the story of his squeezing his sides between 
two trees, in order to make him disgorge, is a mere fable. 



GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS. 147 

Siberia, Kamtschatka, and the polar regions, are supposed 
to be the abodes of misery and desolation. They are, it must 
be allowed, infested with numerous tribes of bears, foxes, 
gluttons, and other rapacious animals. But it should be con- 
sidered, that these voracious animals supply the natives with 
food and clothing. To elude the attacks of ferocity, and to 
acquire possession of the skins and carcasses of such crea- 
tures, the industry and dexterity of savage nations are excited. 
The furs are demanded by foreigners. The inhabitants by 
this means learn commerce and the arts of life ; and in the 
progress of time, bears and wild beasts become the instru- 
ments of polishing a barbarous people. Thus the most sub- 
stantial good often proceeds from apparent misfortune. 

There is hardly a plant that is not rejected as food by some 
animals, and ardently desired by others. The horse yields 
the common water-hemlock to the goat, and the cow the long- 
leafed water-hemlock to the sheep. The goat, again, leaves 
the aconite, or bane-berries, to the horse, &,c. Plants which 
afford proper nourishment to some animals, are by others 
avoided, because they would not only be hurtful, but even 
poisonous. Hence no plant is absolutely deleterious to ani- 
mal life. Poison is only a relative term. The euphobia, or 
spurge, so noxious to man, is greedily devoured by some of 
the insect tribes. 

It is a remark of the ingenious Reaumur, that such insects 
as feed upon dead carcasses, and whose fecundity is great, 
never attack live animals. The flesh-fly deposits her eggs in 
the bodies of dead animals, where her progeny receive that 
nourishment which is best suited to their constitution. But 
this fly never attempts to lay her eggs in the flesh of sound 
and living animals. If Nature had determined her to observe 
the opposite conduct, men, quadrupeds, and birds would have 
been dreadfully afflicted by the ravages of this single insect. 
Lest it might be imagined that the flesh-fly selected dead, 
instead of live animals, because, in depositing her eggs, she 
was unable to pierce the skin of the latter, M. de Reaumur 
made the following experiment, which removed every doubt, 
that might arise on the subject. He carefully pulled off all 
the feathers from the thigh of a young pigeon, and applied to 
it a thin slice of beef, in which there were hundreds of mag- 
gots. The portion of beef was not sufficient to maintain them 
above a few hours. He fixed it to the thigh by a bit of gauze ; 
and he prevented the pigeon from moving, by tying its wings 
and legs. The maggots soon showed that their present situ- 



148 GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS. 

ation was disagreeable to them. Most of them retired from 
under the slice of beef; and the few that remained perished 
in a short time. Their death was probably occasioned by the 
degree of heat in the pigeon's body being greater than their 
constitution could bear. Upon the same pigeon M. de Reau- 
mur performed another experiment. He took off the skin 
from its thigh, laid bare the flesh, and applied immediately 
another slice of beef full of maggots. The animals discovered 
evident marks of uneasiness ; and all of them that remained 
on the flesh of the pigeon were deprived of life, as in the 
former experiment, in less than an hour. Thus the degree of 
heat that is necessary to such worms as inhabit the interior 
parts of animals, is destructive to those species which nature 
has destined to feed upon the flesh of dead animals. Hence 
the worms sometimes found in ulcerous sores must belong to 
a different species from those upon which the above experi- 
ments were made. 

The growth of some worms, which feed upon animal or 
vegetable substances, is extremely rapid. Redi remarked, that 
these creatures, the day after they escaped from the egg, had 
acquired at least double their former size. At this period he 
weighed them, and found that each worm weighed seven 
grains; but that, on the day preceding, it required from 
twenty-five to thirty of them to weigh a single grain. Hence ? 
in about the space of twenty-four hours, each of these worms 
had become from one hundred and fifty-five to two hundred 
and ten times heavier than formerly. This rapidity of growth 
is remarkable in those maggots which are produced from the 
eggs of the common flesh-fly. 

Before we dismiss this subject, a few observations on that 
power inherent in all animal bodies, of dissolving and con- 
verting into chyle the nutritive substances thrown into the 
stomach, merit attention. 

In order to explain the process of digestion, some physi- 
cians and philosophers have had recourse to mechanical force* 
and others to chemical action. The supporters of mechani- 
cal force maintained, that the stomachs of all animals com- 
minuted, or broke down into small portions, every species of 
food, and prepared it for being converted into chyle. The 
chemical philosophers, on the contrary, supported the opinion^ 
that the food was dissolved by a fermentation induced by the 
saliva and gastric juices. The disputes which naturally arose 
from these seemingly opposite theories, stimulated the inquiries 
of the ingenious, and produced several curious and important 
discoveries. 



GROWTH AND FOOD T>P ANIMALS. 149 

f Many physiologists have exerted their industry upon this 
Subject, but it would require more space than* the design of 
this work will allow, to give even an abridged account of all 
their labors. Therefore, only some of the most curious and 
important results will be presented. 

* Spallanzani, who made a great number of original obser- 
vations and experiments upon digestion, directed his attention 
to this function, as taking place in animals with three differ- 
ent kinds of stomach. 1. Those with strong muscular stom- 
achs or gizzards, as hens, turkeys, ducks, geese, pigeons, 
&/C 2. Those with stomachs of an intermediate structure, 
as crows, herons, &,c. 3. Those with membranous stomachs, 
as man, the mammalia, many birds, particularly the accipi- 
trine, reptiles, and fishes. 

' 1. In his experiments upon birds with strong gizzards, 
Spallanzani forced down their throats small glass and metal 
balls and tubes, filled with grain, and perforated with many 
holes, in order to give free admittance to the gastric juice. 
The grain was in its entire state. At the end of different pe- 
riods, varying from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, the ani- 
mals were killed and the balls examined. No change had 
taken place in the grain. There was no diminution of size, 
and no marks of dissolution were to be seen. In all his ex- 
periments, which were numerous, the event was uniformly the 
same. Suspecting that, although the gastric juice might be 
unable to dissolve grains in their entire state, it might act as 
a solvent upon them when sufficiently masticated or bruised, 
he repeated his experiments^ filling his balls with bruised 
grain. In all his numerous trials upon this plan, he invaria- 
bly found, that the grain was more or less dissolved in pro- 
portion to the time the balls were allowed to remain in the 
stomach. 

* When tin tubes full of grain were thrust into the stomach? 
of turkeys, and allowed to continue there a considerable time, 
they were found to be broken, crushed, and distorted in such 
a manner as to evince the existence of a most powerful com- 
minuting force. " Having found," says Spallanzani, " that 
the tin tubes which I used for common fowls were incapable 
of resisting the stomach of turkeys, and not happening at that 
time to be provided with any tin plate of greater thickness, I 
tried to strengthen them, by soldering to the ends two circu- 
lar plates of the same metal, perforated only with a few holes 
for the admission of the gastric fluid. But this contrivance 
was ineffectual ; for after the tubes had been twenty-four hours 

13* 



150 GROWTH AND FOOD Otf ANlMALg. 

in the stomach of a turkey > the circular plates were driven iri, 
and some of the tubes were broken, some compressed, and 
some distorted, in the most irregular manner." 

' These smooth substances, although violently acted upon, 
could not injure the stomach, and Spaflanzani was therefore 
induced to try the effect of sharp bodies. He found that the 
stomach of a cock in twenty-four hours broke off the angles 
of a piece of rough, jagged glass, without laceration or wound* 
A leaden ball, into which twelve strong tin needles were firmly 
fixed, with their points projecting about a quarter of an inch 
from the surface, was then covered with a case of paper, and 
forced down the throat of a turkey. The animal discovered 
no symptoms of uneasiness, and at the end of a day and a 
half, when the stomach was examined, the points of the twelve 
needles were broken off close to the surface of the ball, ex- 
cept two or three, which projected a little. Two of these 
points were discovered among the food : the other ten had 
probably passed out of the body. 

* In another experiment, still more cruel than this, twelve 
small lancets were fixed, in a similar manner, into a leaden 
ball, and forced down the throat of a turkey cock. After 
eight hours, the stomach was opened, but nothing appeared ex- 
cept the naked ball, the lancets having been broken to pieces. 
The stomach itself was found perfectly sound and uninjured 
in both these experiments. 

* It is common, in the gizzards of many birds, to find small 
stones, which have been supposed to assist in breaking down 
grain and other hard substances into small fragments, to pre- 
pare the way for their digestion. Spallanzani has endeav- 
ored to prove that the muscular action of the gizzard is 
equally powerful without the stones. In a number of pigeons 
which he had fed from the egg himself, so as to prevent them 
from obtaining stones, he found that tin tubes, glass globules, 
and fragments of broken glass, were acted upon in the same 
way as in ordinary circumstances; and this happened also 
without any laceration of the stomach. It is the opinion, 
however, of the best physiologists, notwithstanding these ex- 
periments, that stones are extremely useful in the comminu- 
tion of grain, and other substances which constitute the food 
of fowls, though not absolutely essential. 

* 2. In stomachs of an intermediate kind, such as those of 
crows, ravens, &,c, the power and action of their coats upon 
substances contained within them, were found to be greatly 
inferior to those of the strong muscular stomachs. But little 



GROWTH AND POOD OF ANIMALS. 151 

alteration was produced upon the tubes of tin, but when made 
of lead, they were evidently compressed and flattened. When 
unbroken grains and seeds were inclosed in perforated tubes 
and thrust into their stomachs, no change whatever was pro- 
duced ; no solution appeared to have taken place. But when 
the same substances were bruised into a coarse flour, so as to 
get rid of their husks, a very sensible diminution of their bulk 
took place, and on being several times introduced, they were 
finally entirely dissolved. Wheat and beans, when eaten vol- 
untarily by the crow, offered similar phenomena. Before 
swallowing, the animal set them under its feet, and broke 
them in pieces by repeated strokes of its beak ; and then they 
were very well digested. But when the same seeds were 
swallowed entire, they were generally vomited up, or voided 
unaltered. Similar experiments were made with French 
beans, peas, nut-kernels, bread-apples, and different kinds 
of flesh and fish ; and corresponding results were obtained.' 

3. Spallanzani finished his experiments on digestion with 
those animals which have thin membranous stomachs, as man, 
quadrupeds, fishes, reptiles, and some birds. In these, the 
coats of the stomach seemed to have little or no mechanical 
action upon their contents ; the gastric juice being fully suf- 
ficient to break down the food and reduce it to a pulp. 

With regard to man, Dr. Stevens, in an Inaugural Disser- 
tation concerning digestion, published at Edinburgh, in the 
year 1777, made several experiments upon a German, who 
gained a miserable livelihood by swallowing stones for the 
amusement of the people. He began this strange practice at 
the age of seven, and had at that time continued it about 
twenty years. He swallowed six or eight stones at a time, some 
of them as large as a pigeon's egg, and passed them in the nat- 
ural way. Dr. Stevens thought this poor man would be an ex- 
cellent subject for ascertaining the solvent power of the gastric 
juice in the human stomach. The Doctor, accordingly, made 
use of him for this purpose. He made the German swallow a 
hollow silver sphere, divided into two cavities by a partition, 
and perforated with a great number of holes, capable of ad- 
mitting an ordinary needle. Into one of these cavities he put 
four scruples and a half of raw beef, and into the other five 
scruples of raw bleak. In twenty-one hours the sphere was 
voided, when the beef had lost a scruple and a half, and the 
fish two scruples. A few days afterwards, the German swal- 
lowed the same sphere, which contained, in one cavity, four 
scruples and four grains of raw, and, in the other, four scrupks 



152 GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS, 

and eight grains of boiled beef. The sphere was returned in 
forty-three hours; the raw flesh had lost one scruple and two 
grains, and the boiled one scruple and sixteen grains. Sus- 
pecting that, if these substances were divided, the solvent 
would have a freer access to them, and more of them would be 
dissolved, Dr. Stevens procured another sphere, with holes 
large enough to receive a crow's quill. He inclosed some 
beef in it* a little masticated. In thirty-eight hours after it was 
swallowed, it was voided quite empty. Perceiving how readily 
the chewed meat was dissolved, he tried whether it would dis- 
solve equally soon without being chewed. With this view, he 
put a scruple and eight grains of pork into one cavity, and the 
same quantity of cheese into the other. The sphere was re- 
tained in the German's stomach and intestines forty-three 
hours ; at the end of which time, not the smallest quantity of 
either pork or cheese was to be found in the sphere. He next 
swallowed the same sphere, which contained, in one partition, 
some roasted turkey, and some boiled salt herring in the other. 
The sphere was voided in forty-six hours ; but no part of the 
turkey or herring appeared ; for both had been completely dis- 
solved. Having discovered that animal substances, though 
inclosed in tubes, were easily dissolved by the gastric juice, 
the Doctor tried whether it would produce the same effect 
upon vegetables. He, therefore, inclosed an equal quantity 
of raw parsnip and potato in a sphere. After continuing 
forty-eight hours in the alimentary canal, not a vestige of 
either remained. Pieces of apple and turnip, both raw and 
boiled, were dissolved in thirty-six hours. 

It is a comfortable circumstance that no animal, perhaps, 
except those worms which are generated in the human in- 
testines, can resist the dissolving power of the gastric juice. 
Dr. Stevens inclosed live leeches, and earth-worms, in differ- 
ent spheres, and made the German swallow them. When the 
spheres were discharged, the animals were not only deprived 
of life, but completely dissolved, by the operation of this pow- 
erful menstruum. Hence, if any live reptile should chance 
to be swallowed, we have no reason to apprehend any danger 
from such an accident. 

The German left Edinburgh before the Doctor had an op- 
portunity of making a farther progress in his experiments. 
He therefore had recourse to dogs and ruminating animals. 
In the course of his trials upon the solvent power in the gastric 
fluid of dogs, he found that it was capable of dissolving hard 
bones, and even hard balls of ivory ; but that, in equal times very 



GROWTH AND FOOB OF ANIMALS. 153 

little impression was made upon potatoes, parsnips, and other 
vegetable substances. On the contrary, in the ruminating 
animals, as the sheep, the ox, &,c, he discovered that their 
gastric juice speedily dissolved vegetables, but made no im- 
pression on beef, mutton, and other animal bodies. From 
thrse last experiments, it appears, that the different tribes of 
animals are not less distinguished by their external figure, and 
by their manners, than by the quality and powers of their 
gastriG juices. Dogs are unable to digest vegetables, and 
sheep and oxen cannot digest animal substances. As the 
gastric juice of the human stomach is capable of dissolving, 
nearly with equal ease, both animals and vegetables, this cir- 
cumstance affords a strong, aad almost an irresistible proof, 
that nature originally intended man to feed promiscuously 
upon both. * 

Live animals, as long as the vital principle remains in them, 
are not affected by the solvent powers of the stomach. 
1 Hence it is,' Mr. Hunter remarks, ' that we find animals of 
various kinds living in the stomach, or even hatched and bred 
there ; but the moment that any of these lose the living prin- 
ciple, they become subject to the digestive powers of the 
stomach. If it were possible, for example, for a man's hand 
to be introduced into the stomach of a living animal, and kept 
there for some considerable time, it would be found, that the 
dissolvent powers of the stomach could have no effect upon 
it ; but if the same hand were separated from the body, and 
introduced into the same stomach, we should then find that 
the stomach would immediately act upon it. Indeed, if this 
were not the case, we should find that the stomach itself ought 
to have been made of indigestible materials ; for if the living 
principle was not capable of preserving animal substances 
from undergoing that process, the stomach itself would be 
digested. But we find, on the contrary, that the stomach, 
which, at one instant, that is, while possessed of the living 
principle, is capable of resisting the digestive powers which 
it contained, the next moment, viz. when deprived of the 
living principle, is itself capable of being digested, either by 
the digestive powers of other stomachs, or by the remains of 
that power which it had of digesting other things.' 

When bodies are opened some time after death, a consid- 
erable aperture is frequently found at the greatest extremity 
of the stomach. * In these cases,' says Mr. Hunter, ( the 
contents of the stomach are generally found loose in the 
cavity of the abdomen, about the spleen and diaphragm. In 



154 TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS, 

many subjects, this digestive power extends much farther than 
through the stomach. I have often found, that, after it had 
dissolved the stomach at the usual place, the contents of the 
stomach had come into contact with the spleen and diaphragm, 
had partly dissolved the adjacent side of the spleen, and had 
dissolved the stomach quite through ; so that the contents of 
the stomach were found in the cavity of the thorax, and had 
even affected the lungs in a small degree.' 



CHAPTER VII. 

OF THE TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS. 

The transformation of caterpillars, and of different kinds of 
worms, into winged insects, has long excited the attention 
as well as the admiration of mankind. But the truth is, 
that every animal, without exception, undergoes changes 
in structure, mode of existence, and external appearances. 
Mankind, from their embryo state, to their final dissolution, 
assume many different forms. At birth, the form, the sym- 
metry,, and organs of the animal are by no means complete. 
The head continues for some time to be disproportion ally 
large ; the hands and feet are not properly shaped ; the legs 
are crooked ; and the hair on the head is short and scanty ; no 
teeth as yet appear : and there is not a vestige of a beard. 
In a few months, however, the symmetry of all the parts is 
evidently improved, and the teeth begin to shoot. The 
growth of the whole body, as well as the strength and beauty 
of its form, gradually advances to perfection till the sixth or 
seventh year, when another change takes place. At this 
period, the first set of teeth are shed, and are replaced by 
new ones. From boyhood to youth, the size of the body, and 
of its different members, increases. During youth, several 
important changes are produced in the system. The beard 
now makes its appearance ; and the dimensions of the body, 
in most individuals, are suddenly augmented. From this 
period to the age of twenty-five or thirty, the muscles swell, 
their interstices are filled with fat, the parts bear a proper 
proportion to each other, and man may now be considered as 
a perfect animal, In this state of bodily perfection and vigor> 



TOANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS. 155 

he generally remains till he reaches his fiftieth year. Then 
a "new, but a gradual change begins to appear. From the 
fiftieth year to the age of seventy or eighty, the powers of 
the body decline in their strength and activity. The muscles 
lose their spring and their force, The vigor of manhood is no 
longer felt, and the withered decrepitude of old age is suc- 
ceeded by death, its unavoidable consequence. 

The mind of man undergoes changes as well as his body. 
The taste, the appetites, and the dispositions are in perpetual 
fluctuation. How different is the taste of a child from that 
of a man ! Fond of gewgaws and of trifling amusements, 
children frolic away their time without much thought or 
reflection. When advancing towards youth, their disposi- 
tions and desires suffer a gradual mutation. The faculties are 
unfolded, and a sense of propriety begins to be perceived. 
They despise their former occupations and amusements ; and 
different species of objects solicit and obtain their attention. 
Their powers of reflection are now considerably augmented ; 
and both sexes acquire a modesty and a shyness with regard 
to each other. This awkward, but natural bashfulness, by 
the intercourse of society, soon vanishes. From this period 
to the age of twenty-five or thirty, men's minds assume a bold, 
enterprising, and active tone. They engage in the business 
of life, look forward to futurity, and have a desire of marry- 
ing and of establishing families. All the social appetites are 
in vigor ; solid and manly friendships are formed ; and man 
goes on for some time to enjoy every kind of happiness which 
his nature is capable of affording. At fifty or sixty, the 
mental powers, in general, like those of the body, begin to 
decline, till feeble and tremulous old age arrives, and death 
closes the mutable scene of human life. 

With regard to quadrupeds, both before and after birth, 
they undergo similar, and many of them greater, changes of 
form than those of the human species. Their mental powers, 
likewise their dispositions and manners, as well as the objects 
of their attention, vary according to the different stages of 
their existence. Many of them come into the world blind, 
and continue for some time before they receive the sense 
of seeing. How many changes are exhibited in the dog 
from the birth till he becomes a perfect animal, till all his 
members are completely formed, and all his instincts are un- 
folded and improved by experience and education ! The 
deer kind acquire not their magnificent and beautiful horns 
before the age of puberty ; and even these are annually cast 



156 TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS* 

off and renewed. Similar changes take place in quadrupeds 
of every denomination ; with examples of which every man'g 
experience and recollection will readily supply him ; and, 
therefore, it is unnecessary to be more particular, 

Neither are birds, in their progress from birth to maturity, 
exempted from changes. Like quadrupeds, many birds are 
blind for some time after they are hatched. In this condition, 
how different are their form and appearances from those of 
the perfect animals ! At first they are covered with a kind 
of down instead of feathers. Even after the feathers shoot, 
they are often of a color different from that which they ac- 
quire when full grown. The beautifully variegated colors of 
the peacock's tail appear not till he arrives at his third year. 
Birds that have crests, or wattles, live a considerable time 
before they acquire these ornaments or marks of distinction. 
All birds annually moult, or cast their feathers, in the same 
manner as quadrupeds shed their hair; the new pushing out 
the old. 

Frogs, toads, and some other reptiles, undergo great changes 
in their form and structure. When it first escapes from the 
egg, a frog appears in the form of a tadpole, an animal with 
a large, roundish head, and a compressed or flat tail, but 
totally destitute of feet and legs. In this state it remains a 
considerable time, when the two fore feet begin to shoot, and 
have an exact resemblance to the buds of trees. As their 
growth advances, the toes and legs are distinguishable. The 
same process goes on with the hind legs, only they are some- 
what later in making their appearance. During the growth 
of the legs, the blood being drawn into different channels, 
the tail suffers a gradual mortification, till at last it totally 
vanishes, and the tadpole is metamorphosed into a quadruped. 
Tadpoles never come out of the water ; but after their trans- 
formation into frogs, they become amphibious, and occasion- 
ally frequent both land and water. 

' In the species of frog called Rana paradoxa, or the para- 
doxical frog, the animal in its tadpole state grows to its full 
size, before the change takes place. Having in almost all 
respects the appearance of a fish, it has been supposed by the 
vulgar to be a frog turned into a fish, and hence has been 
called the frog-fish. In time, however, it undergoes the 
usual changes, and becomes a true frog. It inhabits Surinam. 
In a species of toad, also found in Surinam, the whole process 
of metamorphosis, from the egg to the perfect state, is carried 
on upon the back of the parent animal. The egg is depo&- 



Transformation op animals. 157 

Ited under the skin, and as the successive changes take place, 
the sack in which it is contained, is enlarged to accommodate 
its increasing size.' 

Serpents cast their skins annually. The beauty and lustre 
of their colors are then highly augmented. Before casting, 
the old skins have a tarnished and withered appearance. 
The old skins, like the first set of teeth in children, are forced 
off by the growth of the new. 

The crustaceous tribes, as lobsters, crabs, &©., beside the 
different appearances they assume while growing to perfec- 
tion, cast their shells every year. When this change is about 
to happen, they retire into the crevices of rocks, or shelter 
themselves below detached stones, with a view to conceal 
and defend their bodies from the rapacious attacks of other 
fishes. After the shells are cast, the animals are exceedingly 
weak and defenceless. Instead of their natural defence of 
hard shells and strong claws, they are covered only with a 
thin membrane or skin. In this state they become an easy 
prey to almost every fish that swims. The skin, however, 
gradually thickens and grows harder, till it acquires the usual 
degree of firmness. By this time the animals have resumed 
their former strength and activity ; they come out from their 
retirements, and go about in quest of food. 

We come now to give some account of the transformations 
of insects, which are both various and w r onderful. All winged 
insects, without exception, and many of those which are 
destitute of wings, must pass through several changes before 
the animals arrive at the perfection of their natures. The 
appearance, the structure, and the organs of a caterpillar, of 
a chrysalis, and of a fly, are so different, that, to a person 
unacquainted with their transformations, an identical animal 
would be considered as three distinct species. Without the 
aid of experience, who could believe that a butterfly, adorned 
with four beautiful wings, furnished with a long spiral pro- 
boscis, or tongue, instead of a mouth, and with six legs, 
should have proceeded from a disgusting, hairy caterpillar, 
provided with jaws and teeth, and fourteen feet? Without 
experience, who could imagine that a long, white, smooth, 
soft worm, hid under the earth, should be transformed into a 
black, crustaceous beetle, having wings covered with horny 
elytra, or cases ? 

Upon this branch of the subject, we shall, first, give an ex- 
ample of two of the most common transformations of insects ; 
and, secondly, describe some of the more uncommon kinds. 
14 



158 TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS. 

Beside their final metamorphosis into flies, caterpillars undergo 
several intermediate changes. All caterpillars cast or change 
their skins oftener or more seldom, according to the species. 
Malpighius informs us, that the silkworm, previous to its 
chrysalis state, casts its skin four times. The first skin is 
cast on the 10th, 11th, or 12th day, according to the nature 
of the season; the second in five or six days after ; the third 
in five or six days more ; and the fourth and last in six or 
seven days after the third. This changing of skin is not only 
common to all caterpillars, but to every insect whatever. Not 
one of them arrives at perfection without casting its skin at 
least once or twice. The skin, after it is cast, preserves so 
entirely the figure of the caterpillar in its head, teeth, legs, 
color, hair, &c, that it is often mistaken for the animal 
itself. A day or two before this change happens, caterpillars 
take no food; they lose their former activity, attach them- 
selves to a particular place, and bend their bodies in various 
directions, till at last they escape from the old skin, and leave 
it behind them. When about to pass into the chrysalis state, 
which is a state of imbecility, caterpillars select the most 
proper places and modes of concealing themselves from their 
enemies. Some, as the silkworm, and many others, spin silken 
webs round their bodies, which completely disguise the ani- 
mal form. Others leave the plants upon which they formerly 
fed, and hide themselves in little cells which they make in 
the earth. The rat-tailed worm abandons the water upon the 
approach of its metamorphosis, retires under the earth, where 
it is changed into a chrysalis, and, after a certain time, bursts 
from its seemingly inanimate condition, and appears in the 
form of a winged insect. Thus the same animals pass the 
first and longest period of their existence in the water, another 
under the earth, and the third and last in the air. Some 
caterpillars, when about to change into the chrysalis state, 
cover their bodies with a mixture of earth and of silk, and 
conceal themselves in the loose soil. Others incrust them- 
selves with a silky or glutinous matter, which they push out 
from their mouths, without spinning it into threads. Others re- 
tire into the holes of walls or of decayed trees. Others suspend 
themselves to the twigs of trees, or to other elevated bodies, 
with their heads undermost. Some attach themselves to walls, 
with their heads higher than their bodies, but in various in- 
clinations ; and others choose a horizontal position. Some 
fix themselves by a gluten, and spin a rope round their middle, 
to prevent them from falling. Those which feed upon trees 



TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS. 159 

ttach themselves to the branches, instead* of the leaves, 
which are less durable, and subject to a greater variety of ac- 
cidents. The colors of the caterpillars give no idea of those 
of the future flies. 

In general, the figure of chrysalids approaches to that of a 
cone, especially in their posterior part. When under this 
form the insect seems to have neither legs nor wings. It is 
incapable either of walking or of crawling. It takes no nour- 
ishment, because it has no organs suited to that purpose ; yet, 
in some species, life is continued for several months before 
their last metamorphosis takes place. In a word, it seems to 
be a lifeless mass. But upon a more attentive observation, it 
is found to possess the power of bending upwards and down- 
wards the posterior part of its body. The skin, or exterior 
covering of those which do not spin webs, seems to be of a 
cartilaginous nature. It is commonly smooth and shining. 
In some species, however, the skin of the chrysalis is more or 
less covered with hair, and other rugosities. Though chrys- 
alids differ both in figure and color, their appearances are 
by no means so various as those of the caterpillars, from which 
they are produced. The color of some chrysalids is that of 
pure gold, from which circumstance the whole have received 
their denomination. For the same reason they are called 
aurelicBy in Latin. Some are brown, others green ; and indeed 
they are to be found of almost every color and shade. 

The life of winged insects consists of three principal 
periods, which present very different scenes to the student of 
nature. In the first period, the insect appears under the 
form of a worm, caterpillar, or larva. Its body is long and 
cylindrical, and consists of a succession of rings, which are 
generally membranous, and incased within each other. By 
the aid of its rings, or of crotchets, or of several pairs of legs, 
it crawls about in quest of food ; and its movements are, in 
some species, remarkably quick. Its head is armed with teeth 
or pincers, by which it eats the leaves of plants or other kinds 
of food. Its blood moves from the tail toward the head. It 
respires either by stigmata, or small apertures placed on each 
side of its body, or by one or several tubes situated on its 
posterior part, which have the resemblance of so many tails. 
In the second period, the insect appears under the form of a 
nymph, or a chrysalis. While in this state, insects in general 
are totally inactive, and seem not to possess any powers of 
life. Sunk into a kind of deep sleep, they are little affected 
by external objects. They can make no use of their eyes, 



160 TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS. 

their mouth, or any of their members ; for they are all im- 
prisoned by coverings more or less strong. No cares occupy 
their attention. Deprived of the faculty of motion, they re- 
main fixed in those situations which they have chosen for 
their temporary abode, or where chance has placed them, till 
their final metamorphosis into flies. Some of them, however, 
are capable of changing place ; but their movements are 
slow and painful. Their blood circulates, but in a contrary 
direction from what took place in the caterpillar state ; for 
it proceeds from the head toward the tail. Respiration con- 
tinues to go on, but the organs are differently situated. In 
the caterpillar, the principal organs of respiration were placed 
at the posterior part of the body ; but now these same organs 
are to be found at the anterior part of the animal. In the 
third period, the insect has acquired that perfect organization 
which corresponds to the rank it is to hold in the scale of 
animation. The bonds of the nymph, or of the chrysalis, are 
now burst asunder, and the insect commences a new mode of 
existence. All its members, formerly soft, inactive, and folded 
up in an envelope, are expanded, strengthened, and exposed 
to observation. Under the form of a worm or caterpillar, it 
crawled ; under that of a nymph or chrysalis, its power of 
motion was almost annihilated ; under the last form, it is fur- 
nished with six springy legs, and two or four wings, with 
which it is enabled to fly through the air. Instead of teeth or 
pincers, with which it divided a gross aliment, it has now a 
trunk, by which it extracts the refined juices of the most del- 
icate flowers. Instead of a few smooth eyes, which it possessed 
in the worm and caterpillar state, the new insect is furnished 
with both smooth and convex eyes, to the number of several 
thousands. 

The internal parts of the insect have likewise undergone as 
many changes as the external. The texture, the proportions, 
and the number of the viscera, are greatly altered. Some 
have acquired an additional degree of consistence ; others, on 
the contrary, are rendered finer and more delicate. Some 
receive a new form, and others are entirely annihilated. Lastly, 
some organs in the perfect insect, which seemed formerly 
to have no existence, are unfolded, and become visible. 

We shall now give some examples of transformation which 
deviate from the common mode. 

Some insects hold a middle rank between those which pre- 
serve their original figure during life, and those that suffer 
transformations. Their existence is divided into two periods 



Transformation of animals. 161 

(mly. They walk in the first, and fly in the second. Thus 
their only metamorphosis consists in the addition of wings, 
the growth and expansion of which are performed without any 
considerable alteration in the figure of their bodies. 

There is not a law established among organized bodies 
which seems to be so universal, as that all of them grow or 
augment in size, after birth, till they arrive at maturity. If a 
hen were to bring forth an egg as large as her own body, and 
if this egg, when hatched, were to produce a bird of equal 
dimensions with either of the parents, it would be considered 
as a miracle. But the spider-fly, so denominated from its 
figure, affords an example of a similar prodigy. This fly ac- 
tually lays an egg, from which a new fly is hatched that is as 
large and as perfect as its mother. This egg is roundish, is 
at first white, and afterwards assumes a shining black color. 
Upon a more accurate examination, however, this production 
is found to be an egg only in appearance. When the envelope 
is removed, instead of a gelatinous substance, the new insect, 
furnished with all its members, is discovered. But this dis- 
covery does not render the fact the less wonderful. All 
winged insects undergo their different transformations after 
being expelled from the bodies of their mothers, and receive 
great augmentation of size before their metamorphosis into 
the nymph or chrysalis state, after which their growth stops. 
But the spider-fly affords an instance of an insect transformed 
within its mother, and which grows no more after it escapes 
from its envelope. 

The worm, from which the tipula or crane-fly is produced, 
is perfectly smooth. Immediately before its first transforma- 
tion it retires under ground. After this metamorphosis, the 
surface of the nymph is furnished with a number of spines. 
By means of these spines, the nymph, when about to be trans- 
formed into a fly, raises itself in its hole till the chest of the 
insect is above ground. The fly then bursts its prison, mounts 
into the air, and leaves its former covering behind in the earth. 

Many species of flies deposit their eggs in the leaves and 
different parts of plants. Soon after the egg is inserted into 
the leaf, a small tubercle begins to appear, which gradually 
increases in magnitude till the animal is hatched and has 
passed through its different transformations. These tubercles 
are known by the name of galls, and are very different in their 
form, texture, color, and size. Galls of every kind, however, 
derive their origin from the perforators of insects, which gen- 
erally belong to the class of flies. The female fly, by means 
14* 



162 TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS, 

of this instrument, makes incisions in the leaves or branches 
of a tree, and in each incision lays an egg, This egg is at 
first extremely minute ; but it soon acquires a considerable 
bulk, and the gall has arrived at its full size before the worm 
is hatched. It is a singular and almost inexplicable fact, that 
the eggs of gall-flies should continue to grow after being 
separated from the body of the mother. But that their eggs do 
augment in size ; that worms proceed from them ; that these 
worms are nourished and live a certain time imprisoned in 
the galls ; that they are transformed into nymphs or chrysalids ; 
and, lastly, that they are metamorphosed into winged insects, 
which, by gnawing an aperture through the gall, take their 
flight in the air ; are known and incontestable facts, of the 
truth of which every man may easily satisfy himself. Ex- 
amine the common oak-galls, or those of any other tree ; if 
any of them happen to have no aperture, cut them gently 
open, and you are certain to find an egg, a worm, a chrysalis, 
or a fly ; but in such as are perforated by a cylindrical hole, 
not a vestige of an animal is discoverable. The galls, which 
make an ingredient in the composition of ink, are thick, and 
their texture is very strong and compact. That the small 
animals they contain should be able to pierce through such a 
rigid substance is truly wonderful. 

In the general order of nature among oviparous animals, 
each egg includes one embryo only. A singular species of 
eggs, however, discovered by the celebrated Mr. Folks, late 
President of the Royal Society of London, must be excepted. 
He found great numbers of them in the mud of small rivulets. 
In size they equalled the head of an ordinary pin. They 
were of a brown color, and their surface was crustaceous, 
through which, by employing the microscope, several living 
worms were distinctly perceptible. By dexterously breaking 
the shell, he dislodged them ; and he found, with surprise, 
that eight or nine worms were contained in, and proceeded 
from, the same egg. They were all well formed, and moved 
about with great agility. Each of them was inclosed in an 
individual membranous covering, which was extremely thin 
and transparent. It were to be wished that the transforma- 
tions of these extraordinary animals had been traced. 

Some caterpillars, when about to transform, make a belt 
pass round their bodies. This belt is composed of an assem- 
blage of silken threads, spun by themselves, the ends of which 
they paste to the twigs of bushes, or other places where they 
choose to attach their bodies. They likewise fix their hind 



TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS, 168 

* 

legs in a tuft of silk. After transformation, the chrysalids re- 
main fixed in the same manner as before their metamorphosis. 
The belt is loose, and allows the chrysalis to perform its slow 
and feeble movements. 

The whole moth kind, as well as the silkworm, immediately 
before their transformation into the chrysalis state, cover their 
bodies with a cod or clew of silk, though the nature of the 
silk, and their mode of spinning, are very different. The cods 
of the silkworm are composed of pure silk. Their figure is 
generally oval, which necessarily results from that of the ani- 
mal's body upon which they are moulded. When spinning, 
they twist their bodies into the form of an S. The cod is 
produced by numberless circumvolutions and zigzags of the 
same thread. The silk is spun by an instrument situated 
near the mouth of the insect. The silky matter, before it is 
manufactured by the spinning instrument, appears under the 
form of a gum almost liquid, which is contained in two large 
reservoirs contorted like the intestines of larger animals, and 
which terminate at the extremity by two parallel and slender 
conduits. Each conduit furnishes matter for one thread. 
The spinning instrument, as is evident when viewed by the 
microscope, unites the two threads into one. Thus a thread 
of silk, which has the appearance of being single, is in reality 
double, and spun with great dexterity. Some writers, who 
delight in the marvellous, ascribe foresight to the silkworm 
in spinning its cod. The silkworm, it must be acknowledged, 
acts as if it foresaw the approaching event. But the truth is, 
that, when the animal has acquired its full growth, its reser- 
voirs of silk are completely filled. It then seems to be strongly 
stimulated to evacuate this glutinous matter. Its different 
movements and attitudes, while discharging the silk, produce 
those oval bundles which clothe and ornament vast numbers 
of the human species. 

Another species of caterpillar constructs its cod in the form 
of a boat with the keel uppermost ; but it consists not en- 
tirely of pure silk. The animal, with its teeth, detaches small 
triangular pieces of bark from a bush or a tree. These 
pieces of bark it pastes upon its body, by means of a glutinous 
or silky substance, and they constitute a principal part of 
its cod. 

Another species works also in wood, though not with as 
much art as the former. Its cod is composed entirely of small 
irregular fragments of dried wood. These fragments the ani- 
mal has the address to unite together, and to form of them a 



164 transformation of animals, 

kind of box, which covers and defends its whole body. It ac- 
complishes this purpose by moistening, for some moments, the 
pieces of wood in its mouth, and then attaches them to each 
other by a glutinous substance. Of this mixture the cater- 
pillar forms a cod, the solidity of which is nearly equal to that 
of wood. 

The most solitary of all insects are those which live in the 
internal parts of fruits. Many of them undergo their meta- 
morphosis in the fruit itself, which affords them both nourish- 
ment and a safe retreat. They dig cavities in the fruit, which 
some of them either line with silk, or spin cods. Others leave 
the fruit, and retire to be transformed in the earth. 

The metamorphosis of insects has been regarded as a sud- 
den operation, because they often burst their shell or silky 
covering quickly, and immediately appear furnished with 
wings. But, by more attentive observation, it has been dis- 
covered that the transformation of caterpillars is a gradual 
process from the moment the animals are hatched till they ar- 
rive at a state of perfection. Why, it may be asked, do 
caterpillars so frequently cast their skins ? The new skin and 
other organs were lodged under the old ones, as in so many 
tubes or cases, and the animal retires from these cases, be- 
cause they have become too strait. The reality of these 
encasements has been demonstrated by a simple experiment. 
When about to moult or cast its skin, if the foremost legs of 
a caterpillar are cut off, the animal comes out of the old skin 
deprived of these legs. From this fact, Reaumur conjectured 
that the chrysalis might be thus encased and concealed under 
the last skin of the caterpillar. He discovered that the 
chrysalis, or rather the butterfly itself, was enclosed in the 
body of the caterpillar. The proboscis, the antennae, the 
limbs, and the wings of the fly, are so nicely folded up, that 
they occupy a small space only under the two first rings of 
the caterpillar. In the first six limbs of the caterpillar are 
encased the six limbs of the butterfly. Even the eggs of the 
butterfly have been discovered in the caterpillar long before 
its transformation. 

From these facts, it appears that the transformation of in- 
sects is only the throwing off of external and temporary cov- 
erings, and not an alteration of the original form. They live 
and receive nourishment in envelopes, till they acquire such a 
degree of perfection as enables them to support the situation 
to which they are ultimately destined by nature. 

Transformations are not peculiar to animals. All organized 



TRANSFORMATION OP ANIMALS. 165 

bodies pass through successive changes. Plants, of course, 
are not exempted from mutation. What an Amazing differ- 
ence between an acorn and a stately oak ! The seed con- 
tains within it the rudiments of the parts of the future plant. 
These parts require only time and other circumstances neces- 
sary to vegetation for their complete evolution. Beside the 
general changes arising from growth, plants undergo a num* 
ber of metamorphoses from other causes. In northern cli- 
mates, if we except a few evergreens, trees, during winter, 
are entirely stripped of their leaves. Instead of the pleasant 
emotions excited by the variety of figures, movements, colors, 
and fragrance of the leaves, flowers, and fruit, during the 
spring and summer, nothing is exhibited in winter but the 
bare stems and branches. In this state, the trees of the for- 
est have a lugubrious appearance, and remind us of death 
and of skeletons. Very different are the emotions we feel in 
the spring, when the buds begin to burst, and the leaves to 
expand. When summer approaches, another beautiful change 
takes place. The flowers, with all their splendor of colors, 
and sweetness of savors, are then highly delightful to our 
senses. After performing the office of cherishing and pro- 
tecting the tender fruit for some time, the flowers drop off, and 
a new change is exhibited. When the flowers fall, the young 
fruit appears, and gradually grows to maturity, perpetually 
presenting varieties in its magnitude, color, odor, and flavor. 
When the fruit or seeds are fully ripe, they are gathered for 
the use of man, drop down upon the earth, or are devoured 
by birds and other animals. After this change happens, to 
which all the others were only preparatory, the leaves begin 
to fall, winter commences, and the same series of metamor- 
phoses go on during the existence of the plant. 

The changes just now mentioned are annual, and are ulti- 
mately intended to supply men and other animals with food. 
But plants are subjected to changes of form from causes of a 
much more accidental nature. Varieties or changes in the 
figure of plants are often produced by soil, by situation, by 
culture, and by climate. 

The petals of all flowers in a natural state are single. But 
when transplanted into gardens, many of them, especially 
those which are furnished with numerous stamina, as the ane- 
mone, the poppy, the peony, the ranunculus, the daisy, the 
marigold, the rose, &c, double, or rather multiply their flower 
leaves without end. This change from single to double, or 
monstrous flowers, as they are called, is produced by too 



166 TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS. 

great a quantity of nutritious juices, which transforms the 
stamina into petals; and it not unfrequently happens, that, 
when these double-flowering plants are committed to a poor 
soil, they become drier, are reduced to their natural state, 
and produce single flowers only. Plants which inhabit the 
valleys, when transported to the tops of mountains, or other 
elevated situations, not only become dwarfish, but undergo 
such changes in their general structure and appearance, that 
they are often thought to belong to a different species, though 
they are, in reality, only varieties of the same. Similar 
changes are produced when Alpine or mountain plants are 
cultivated in the valleys. 

From culture and climate, likewise, plants undergo many 
changes. But this subject is so generally known, that to en- 
large upon it would be entirely superfluous. We shall only 
remark, that the older botanists, when they perceived the 
same species of plants growing in a different soil, or in a dif- 
ferent climate, assume such different appearances, considered 
and enumerated them as distinct species. But the modern 
botanists, to prevent the unnecessary multiplication of separate 
beings, have endeavored to reduce all those varieties, arising 
from fortuitous circumstances, to their original species. 

From these facts, and many others which might be men- 
tioned, it appears, that, in both the animal and vegetable king- 
doms, forms are perpetually changing. The mineral kingdom 
is not less subject to metamorphosis ; but this belongs not to 
our present subject. Though forms continually change, the 
quantity of matter is invariable. The same substances pass 
successively into the three kingdoms, and constitute, in their 
turn, a mineral, a plant, an insect, a reptile, a fish, a bird, a 
quadruped, a man. In these transformations, organized bodies 
are the principal agents. They change or decompose every 
substance that either enters into them, or is exposed to the 
action of their powers. Some they assimilate, by the process 
of nutrition, into their own substance ; others they evacuate in 
different forms ; and these evacuations make ingredients in 
the compositions of other bodies, as those of insects, whose 
multiplication is prodigious, and affords a very great quantity of 
organized matter for the nourishment and support of almost 
every animated being. Thus, from the apparently vilest and 
most contemptible species of matter, the richest productions 
derive their origin. The most beautiful flowers, the most ex- 
quisite fruits, and the most useful grain, all proceed from the 
bosom of corruption. The earth is continually bestowing 



TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS. 167 

fresh gifts upon us ; and her powers would soon be exhausted, 
if what she perpetually gives were not perpetually restored to 
her. It is a law of nature, that all organized bodies should 
be decomposed, and gradually transformed into earth. While 
undergoing this species of dissolution, their more volatile par- 
ticles pass into the air, and are diffused through the atmos- 
phere. Thus animals, at least portions of them, are buried 
in the air, as well as in the earth, or in water. These float- 
ing particles soon enter into the composition of new organized 
beings, which are themselves destined to undergo the same 
revolutions. This circulation of organized matter has con- 
tinued since the commencement of the world, and will pro- 
ceed in the same course till its final destruction. 

With regard to the intentions of Nature in changing forms, 
a complete investigation of them exceeds the powers of hu- 
man research. One great intention, from the examples above 
enumerated, cannot escape observation. In the animal world, 
every successive change is a new approach to the perfection 
of the individuals. Men, and the larger animals, some time 
after the age of puberty, remain stationary, and continue to 
multiply their species for periods proportioned to their respec- 
tive species. When those periods terminate, they gradually 
decay till their final dissolution. The same observation is 
applicable to the insect tribes, whose transformations strike 
us with wonder. The caterpillar repeatedly moults or casts 
off its skin. The butterfly existed originally in the body of 
the caterpillar ; but the organs of the fly were too soft, and 
not sufficiently unfolded. It remains unfit to encounter the 
open air, or to perform the functions of a perfect animal, till 
some time after its transformation into a chrysalis. It then 
bursts through its envelope, arrives at a state of perfection, 
multiplies its species, and dies. All the changes in the vege- 
table kingdom tend to the same point. In the process of 
growing, they are perpetually changing forms till they produce 
fruit, and then they decay. Some plants, like caterpillars, go 
through all their transformations, death not excepted, in one 
year. But others, like man and the larger animals, beside the 
common changes produced by growth and the evolution of 
different organs, continue for many years in a state of perfec- 
tion before the periods of decay and of dissolution arrive. 
But these perennial plants undergo, every year, all the vicis- 
situdes of the annual. They every year increase in magni- 
tude, send forth new leaves and branches, ripen and dissem- 
inate their seeds, and, during winter, remain in a torpid state, 



168 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS, 

or suffer a temporary death. These annual changes in trees^ 
&c, have some resemblance to those of animals, which pro- 
duce at certain stated seasons only. 

This distribution of life to an immensity of successive indi- 
viduals, seems to be another intention of Nature in changing 
forms, and in the dissolution of her productions. Were the 
existence of individuals perpetual, or were it prolonged for 
ten times the periods now established, life would be denied to 
myriads of animated beings, which enjoy their present limited 
portion of happiness. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

OF THE HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

Many animals, beside those of the human species, have the 
faculty of constructing proper habitations for concealing 
themselves, for defending themselves against the attacks of 
their enemies, for sheltering and cherishing their young, and 
for protecting them from the injuries of the weather. All 
those of the same species, when not restrained by accidental 
causes, uniformly build in the same style, and use the same 
materials. From this general rule man is to be excepted. 
Possessed of superior faculties and understanding, he can 
build in any style, and employ such materials as his taste, his 
fancy, or the purposes for which the fabric is intended, shall 
direct him. A cottage and a palace are equally within the 
reach of his powers. In treating of this subject, we mean not 
to trace the progress of human architecture, which, in the 
earlier stages of society, is extremely rude, but to confine our 
selves to that of the inferior tribes of animated beings. 

With regard to quadrupeds, many of them employ no kind 
of architecture, but live continually, and bring forth their 
young, in the open air. When not under the immediate pro- 
tection of man, these species, in rough or stormy weather, 
shelter themselves among trees or bushes, retire under the 
coverture of projecting rocks, or the sides of hills opposite to 
those from which the wind proceeds. Beside these arts of 
defence, to which they are prompted by instinct and experi- 
ence, nature furnishes them, during the winter months, with a 



MARMOT. 169 

double portion of long hair, which protects them from cold, 
and other assaults of the weather. 

Of the quadrupeds that make or choose habitations for them- 
selves, some dig holes in the earth, some take refuge in the 
cavities of decayed trees, and in the clefts of rocks, and some 
actually construct cabins or houses. But the artifices they 
employ, the materials they use, and the situations they select, 
are so various and so numerous, that our plan necessarily 
limits us to a few of the more curious examples. 

The Alpine Marmot is a quadruped about sixteen inches in 
length, and has a short tail. In figure, the marmots have 
some resemblance both to the rat and to the bear. When 
tamed, they eat every thing presented to them, as flesh, bread, 
fruit, roots, pot-herbs, insects, &,c. They delight in the re- 
gions of frost and of snow, and are only to be found on the 
tops of the highest mountains. These animals remain in a 
torpid state during winter. About the end of September, or 
the beginning of October, they retire into their holes, and 
never come abroad again till the beginning of April. Their 
retreats are formed with much art and precaution. With their 
feet and claws, which are admirably adapted to the purpose, 
they dig the earth with amazing quickness, and throw it behind 
them. They do not make a simple hole, or a straight or wind- 
ing tube, but a kind of gallery in the form of a Y, each branch 
of which has an aperture, and both terminate in a capacious 
apartment. As the whole operation is performed on the de- 
clivity of a mountain, this innermost apartment alone is hori- 
zontal. Both branches of the Y are inclined. One of the 
branches descends under the apartment, and follows the de- 
clivity of the mountain. This branch is a kind of aqueduct, 
and receives and carries ofT the filth of their habitations ; and 
the other, which rises above the principal apartment, is used 
for coming in and going out. The place of their abode is 
well lined with moss and hay, of which they lay up great store 
during the summer. They are social animals. Several of 
them live together, and work in common when forming their 
habitations. Thither they retire during rain, or upon the ap- 
proach of danger. One of them stands sentinel upon a rock, 
while the others gambol upon the grass, or are employed in 
cutting it, in order to make hay. If the sentinel perceives a 
man, an eagle, a dog, or other dangerous animal, he alarms 
his companions by a loud whistle, and is himself the last that 
enters the hole. They continue torpid during the winter, and, 
as if they foresaw that they would then have no occasion for 
15 



170 HABITATIONS OP ANIMALS. 

victuals, they lay up no provisions in their apartments. But 
when they feel the first approaches of the sleeping season, 
they shut up both passages to their habitation ; and this opera- 
tion they perform with such labor and solidity, that it is 
more easy to dig the earth any where else, than in such parts 
as they have thus fortified. At this time they are very fat, 
weighing sometimes twenty pounds. They continue to be 
plump for three months ; but afterwards they gradually de- 
cline, and, at the end of winter, they are extremely emaciated. 
When seized in their retreats, they appear rolled up in the 
form of a ball, and covered with hay. In this state they are 
so torpid, that they may be killed without seeming to feel pain. 
The hunters select the fattest for eating, and keep the young 
ones for taming. Like the dormice, and all the other animals 
which sleep during winter, the marmots are revived by a grad- 
ual and gentle heat ; and it is remarkable, that those which 
are fed in houses, and kept warm, never become torpid, but 
are equally active and lively during the whole year. 

The Beaver is about three feet in length, and its tail, which 
is of an oval figure, and covered with scales, is eleven inches 
long. He uses his tail as a rudder to direct his course in 
the water. In places much frequented by man, the beavers 
neither associate nor build habitations. But in the northern 
regions of both continents, they assemble in the month of 
June or July, for the purpose of uniting into society, and of 
building a city. From all quarters they arrive in numbers, 
and soon form a troop of two or three hundred. The opera- 
tions and architecture of the beavers are so well described 
by the Count de Buffon, that we shall lay it before our read- 
ers nearly in his own words. The place of rendezvous, he 
remarks, is generally the situation fixed upon for their estab- 
lishment, and it is always on the banks of waters. If the 
waters be flat, and seldom rise above their ordinary level, as 
in lakes, the beavers make no bank or dam. But in rivers or 
brooks, where the water is subject to risings and fallings, 
they build a bank, which traverses the river from one side to 
the other, like a sluice, and is often from eighty to a hundred 
feet long, by ten or twelve broad at the base. This pile, for 
animals of so small a size (the largest beavers weighing only 
fifty or sixty pounds), appears to be enormous, and presup- 
poses an incredible labor. But the solidity with which the 
work is constructed, is still more astonishing than its magni- 
tude. The part of the river where they erect this bank is 
generally shallow. If they find on the margin a large tree, 



BEAVER. 171 

which can be made to fall into the river, they begin, by cut- 
ting it down, to form the principal basis of their work. This 
tree is often thicker than a man's body. By gnawing it at 
the bottom with their four cutting teeth, they in a short time 
accomplish their purpose, and always make the tree fall 
across the river. They next cut the branches from the trunk 
to make it lie level. These operations are performed by the 
joint industry of the whole community. Some of them, at 
the same time, traverse the banks of the river, and cut down 
smaller trees, from the size of a man's leg to that of his thigh. 
These they cut to a certain length, dress them into stakes, 
and first drag them by land to the margin of the river, and 
then by water to the place where the building is carrying on. 
These piles they sink down, and interweave the branches 
with the larger stakes. In performing this operation, many 
difficulties are to be surmounted. In order to dress these 
stakes, and to put them in a situation nearly perpendicular, 
some of the beavers must elevate, with their teeth, the thick 
ends against the margin of the river, or against the cross tree, 
while others plunge to the bottom, and dig holes with their 
fore feet to receive the points, that they may stand on end. 
When some are laboring in this manner, others bring earth 
in their mouths and with their fore feet, and transport it in 
such quantities, that they fill with it all the intervals between 
the piles. These piles consist of several rows of stakes of 
equal height, all placed opposite to each other, and extend 
from one bank of the river to the other. The stakes facing 
the lower part of the river are placed perpendicularly ; but 
those which are opposed to the stream slope upward, to sus- 
tain the pressure of the water ; so that the bank, which is ten 
or twelve feet wide at the base, is reduced to two or three at 
the top. Near the top, or thinnest part of the bank, the bea- 
vers make two or three sloping holes, to allow the surface 
water to escape. These they enlarge or contract in propor- 
tion as the river rises or falls; and when any breaches are 
made in the bank by sudden or violent inundations, they 
know how to repair them when the water subsides. 

Hitherto all these operations were performed by the united 
force and dexterity of the whole community. They now 
separate into smaller societies, which build cabins or houses. 
These cabins are constructed upon piles near the margin of 
the river or pond, and have two openings, one for the animals 
going to the land, and the other for throwing themselves into 
the water. The form of these edifices is either round or 



172 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

oval, and they vary in size from four or five to eight or ten 
feet in diameter. Some of them consist of three or four sto- 
ries. Their walls are about two feet thick, and are raised 
perpendicularly upon planks, or plain stakes, which serve 
both for foundations and floors to their houses. When they 
consist of but one story, they rise perpendicularly a few feet 
only, afterwards assume a curved form, and terminate in a 
dome or vault, which answers the purpose of a roof. They 
are built with amazing solidity, and neatly plastered with a 
kind of stucco both within and without. In the application 
of this mortar the tails of the beavers serve for trowels, and 
their feet for plashing. Their houses are impenetrable to 
rain, and resist the most impetuous winds. In their construc- 
tion, they employ different materials, as wood, stone, and a 
kind of sandy earth, which is not liable to be dissolved in 
water. The wood they use is generally of the light and ten- 
der kinds,^ as alders, poplars, and willows, which commonly 
grow on the banks of rivers, and are more easily barked, cut, 
and transported, than the heavier and more solid species of 
timber. They always begin the operation of cutting trees at 
a foot or a foot and a half above the ground. They labor 
in a sitting posture ; and, beside the convenience of this 
posture, they enjoy the pleasure of gnawing perpetually the 
bark and wood, which are their favorite food. Of these pro- 
visions they lay up ample stores in their cabins to support 
them during the winter. Each cabin has its own magazine, 
which is proportioned to the number of its inhabitants, who 
have all a common right to the store, and never pillage their 
neighbors. Some villages are composed of twenty or 
twenty-five cabins. But these large establishments are not 
frequent ; and the common republics seldom exceed ten or 
twelve families, while each have their own quarter of the 
village, their own magazine, and their separate habitation. 
The smallest cabins contain two, four, or six, and the largest 
eighteen, twenty, and sometimes thirty beavers. As to males 
and females, they are almost always equally paired. Upon a 
moderate computation, therefore, the society is often com- 
posed of a hundred and fifty or two hundred, who all, at first, 
labor jointly in raising the great public building, and after- 
wards, in select tribes or companies, in making particular 
habitations. In this society, however numerous, an universal 
peace is maintained. Their union is cemented by common 
labors ; and it is perpetuated by mutual conveniency, and 
the abundance of provisions which they amass and consume 



BEAVER. 173 

together. A simple taste, moderate appetites, and an aver- 
sion to blood and carnage, render them destitute of the ideas 
of rapine and war. Friends to each other, if they have any 
foreign enemies, they know how to avoid them. When dan- 
ger approaches, they advertise one another, by striking their 
broad tail on the surface of the water, the noise of which is 
heard at a great distance, and resounds through all the 
vaults of their habitations. Each individual, upon these oc- 
casions, consults his own safety ; some plunge into the water ; 
others conceal themselves within their walls, which can be 
penetrated only by the fire of heaven, or the steel of man, 
and which no animal will attempt either to open or to over- 
turn. These retreats are not only safe, but neat and commo- 
dious. The floors are spread over with verdure ; the branches 
of the box and of the fir serve them for carpets, upon which 
they permit not the smallest dirtiness. The window that 
faces the water answers for a balcony to receive the fresh 
air, and for the purpose of bathing. During the greater part 
of the day, the beavers sit on end, with their head and the 
anterior parts of their body elevated, and their posterior parts 
sunk in the water. The aperture of this window is sufficiently 
raised to prevent its being stopped up with the ice, which, 
in the beaver climates, is often two or three feet thick. When 
this accident happens, they slope the sole of the window, 
cut obliquely the stakes which support it, and thus open a 
communication with the unfrozen water. They often swim 
a long way under the ice. In September, the beavers collect 
their provisions of bark and of wood. Till the end of winter, 
they remain in their cabins, enjoy the fruits of their labors, 
and taste the sweets of domestic happiness. This is their 
time of repose. In the spring they separate; the males 
retire into the country, to enjoy the pleasures and fruits of 
spring. They return occasionally, however, to their cabins ; 
but dwell there no more. The females continue in the 
cabins, and are occupied in nursing, protecting, and rearing 
their young, which in a few weeks are in a condition to fol- 
low their dams. The beavers assemble not again till autumn, 
unless their banks or cabins be injured by inundations; for, 
when accidents of this kind happen, they suddenly collect 
their forces, and repair the breaches that have been made. 

This account of the society and operations of beavers, how- 
ever marvellous it may appear, has been established and con- 
firmed by so many credible eye-witnesses, that it is impossible 
to doubt of its reality. 
15* 



174 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

The habitations where Moles deposit their young, merit a 
particular description ; because it is constructed with pecu- 
liar intelligence, and because the mole is an animal with 
which we are well acquainted. They begin by raising the 
earth, and forming a pretty high arch. They leave partitions, 
or a kind of pillars, at certain distances, beat and press the 
earth, interweave it with the roots of plants, and render it so 
hard and solid, that the water cannot penetrate the vault, on 
account of its convexity and firmness. They then elevate a 
little hillock under the principal arch ; upon the latter they 
lay herbs and leaves for a bed to their young. In this situa- 
tion they are above the level of the ground, and, of course, 
beyond the reach of ordinary inundations. They are, at the 
same time, defended from the rains by the large vault that 
covers the internal one, upon the convexity of which last 
they rest along with their young. The internal hillock is 
pierced on all sides with sloping holes, which descend still 
lower, and serve as subterraneous passages for the mother to 
go in quest of food for herself and her offspring. These by- 
paths are beaten and firm, extend about twelve or fifteen 
paces, and issue from the principal mansion like rays from 
a centre. Under the superior vault we likewise find remains 
of the roots of the meadow saffron, which seem to be the first 
food given to the young. From this description it appears, 
that the mole never comes abroad but at considerable distances 
from her habitation. JVIoles, like the beavers, pair, and so 
lively and reciprocal an attachment subsists between them, 
that they seem to disrelish all other society. In their dark 
abodes they enjoy the placid habits of repose and of solitude, 
the art of securing themselves from injury, of almost instanta- 
neously making an asylum or habitation, and of procuring a 
plentiful subsistence without the necessity of going abroad. 
They shut up the entrance of their retreats, and seldom leave 
them, unless compelled by the admission of water, or when their 
mansions are demolished by art. 

The nidification of Birds has at all times called forth the 
admiration of mankind. In general, the nests of birds are 
built with an art so exquisite, that an exact imitation of them 
exceeds all the powers of human skill and industry. Their 
style of architecture, the materials they employ, and the situ- 
ations they select, are as various as the different species. 
Individuals of the same species, whatever region of the globe 
they inhabit, collect the same materials, arrange and construct 
them in the same form, and make choice of similar situations 



NESTS OF BIRDS. 175 

lor erecting their temporary habitations ; for tfye nests of birds, 
those of the eagle kind excepted, after the young have come 
to maturity, are forever abandoned by the parents. 

To describe minutely the nests of birds would be a vain 
attempt. Such descriptions could not convey an adequate 
idea of their architecture to a person who had never seen one 
of those beautiful and commodious habitations, which even 
astonish and excite the amazement of children. 

The different orders of birds exhibit great variety in the 
materials and structure of their nests. Those of the rapa- 
cious tribes are in general rude, and composed of coarse 
materials, as dried twigs, bents, &c. But they are often lined 
with soft substances. They build in elevated rocks, ruinous 
and sequestered castles and towers, and in other solitary re- 
tirements. The aerie or nest of the eagle is quite flat, and 
not hollow, like those of other birds. The male and female 
commonly place their nest between two rocks, in a dry and 
inaccessible situation. The same nest, it is said, serves the 
eagle during life. The structure is so considerable, and com- 
posed of such solid materials, that it may last many years. 
Its form resembles that of a floor. Its basis consists of sticks 
about five or six feet in length, which are supported at each 
end, and these are covered with several layers of rushes and 
heath. An eagle's nest was found in the Peak of Derbyshire, 
which Willoughby describes in the following manner ; ' It 
was made of great sticks, resting one end on the edge of a 
rock, the other on a birch tree. Upon these was a layer of 
rushes, and over them a layer of heath, and upon the heath 
rushes again ; upon which lay one young eagle and an addle 
egg j and by them a lamb, a hare, and three heathpouts. The 
nest was about two yards square, and had no hollow in it.' 
But the butcher-birds, or shrikes, which are less rapacious 
than eagles and hawks, build their habitations in shrubs and 
bushes, and employ moss, wool, and other soft materials. 

The common magpies build their nests in trees, and their 
structure is admirably contrived for affording warmth and 
protection to the young. The nest is not open at top : it is 
covered in the most dextrous manner, with an arch or dome, 
and a small opening in the side of it is left, to give the parents 
an opportunity of passing in and out at their pleasure. To 
protect their eggs and young from the attacks of other ani- 
mals, the magpies place, all around the external surface of 
their nest, sharp briers and thorns. The long-tailed titmouse, 
or ox-eye, builds nearly like the wren, but with still greater 



176 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS, 

art. With the same materials as the rest of the structure, the 
titmouse builds an arch over the top of the nest, which resem- 
bles an egg erected upon one end, and leaves a small hole in 
the side for a passage. Both eggs and young, by this contri* 
vance, are defended from the injuries of the air, rain, cold, &,c. 
That the young may have a soft and warm bed, she lines the 
inside of the nest with feathers, down, and cobwebs. The 
sides and roof are composed of moss and wool, interwoven in 
the most curious and artificial manner. 

Mr. Pennant, in his Indian Zoology, gives the following cu- 
rious account of the manner in which the Motacilla sutoria ? 
or tailor-bird, builds its nest. ' Had Providence/ Mr. Pen- 
nant remarks, * left the feathered tribes unendowed with any 
particular instinct, the birds of the torrid zone would have 
built their nests in the same unguarded manner as those of Eu- 
rope ; but there, the lesser species, having a certain prescience 
of the dangers that surround them, and of their own weakness, 
suspend their nests at the extreme branches of the trees. They 
are conscious of inhabiting a climate replete with enemies to 
them and their young ; with snakes that twine up the bodies 
of the trees, and apes that are perpetually in search of prey ; 
but, heaven-instructed, they elude the gliding of the one, and 
the activity of the other. — The brute creation are more at 
enmity with one another than in other climates ; and the 
birds are obliged to exert an unusual artifice in placing their 
little broods out of the reach of an invader. Each aims at 
the same end, though by different means ; some form their 
pensile nest in shape of a purse, deep and open at top ; others 
with a hole in the side ; and others, still more cautious, with 
an entrance at the very bottom, forming their lodge near the 
summit* But the tailor-bird seems to have greater diffidence 
than any of the others : it will not trust its nest even to the 
extremity of a slender twig, but makes one more advance to 
safety by fixing it to the leaf itself It picks up a dead leaf, 
and, surprising to relate, sews it to the side of a living one, its 
slender bill being its needle, and its thread some fine fibres, 
the lining feathers, gossamer, and down. Its eggs are white, 
the color of the bird light yellow ; its length three inches ; 
its weight only three-sixteenths of an ounce ; so that the ma- 
terials of the nest and its own size, are not likely to draw 
down a habitation that depends on so slight a tenure.' 

*This instinct prevails also among the birds on the banks of the Gambia in Africa, 
which abounds with monkeys and snakes ; others, for the same end, make their nest 
in holes of the banks that overhang that vast river. — Purchas, Vol. II. p. 1576. 



NESTS OF BIRDS. 177 

Birds of the gallinaceous or poultry kind lay their eggs on 
the ground. Some of them scrape a kind of hole in the earth, 
and line it with a little long grass or straw, 

It is a singular, though a well-attested fact, that the cuc- 
koo makes no nest, and neither hatches nor feeds her own 
young. ' The hedge-sparrow/ says Mr. Willoughby, ' is the 
cuckoo's nurse; but not the hedge-sparrow only, but also ring- 
doves, larks, finches. I myself, with many others, have seen 
a wag-tail feeding a young cuckoo. The cuckoo herself 
builds ne nest ; but having found the nest of some little bird, 
she either devours or destroys the eggs she there finds, and, in 
the room thereof, lays one of her own, and so forsakes it. 
The silly bird, returning, sits on this egg f hatches it, and, 
with a great deal of care and toil, broods, feeds, and cherishes 
the young cuckoo for her own, until it be grown up, and able 
to fly and shift for itself. Which thing seems so strange, 
monstrous, and absurd, that for my part I cannot sufficiently 
wonder there should be such an example in nature ; nor could 
I ever have been induced to believe that such a thing had been 
done by nature's instinct, had I not with mine own eyes seen 
it. For nature, in other things, is wont constantly to observe 
one and the same law and order, agreeable to the highest rea- 
son and prudence ; which in this case is, that the dams make 
nests for themselves, if need be, sit upon their own eggs, and 
bring up their own young after they are hatched.'* This 
economy in the history of the cuckoo, is not only singular, 
but seems to contradict one of the most universal laws estab- 
lished among animated beings, and particularly among the 
feathered tribes, namely, the hatching and rearing of their 
offspring. Still, however, like the ostrich in very warm cli- 
mates, though the cuckoo neither hatches nor feeds her young, 
she places her eggs in situations where they are both hatched 
and her offspring brought to maturity. Here the stupidity of 
the one animal makes it a dupe to the rapine and chicane of 
the other ; for the cuckoo always destroys the eggs of the 
small bird before she deposits her own. 

Most of the passerine or small birds build their nests in 
hedges, shrubs, or bushes ; though some of them, as the lark 
and the goat-sucker, build upon the ground. The nests of 
small birds are more delicate in their structure and contri- 
vance than those of the larger kinds. As the size of their bod- 
ies, and likewise that of their eggs, are smaller, the materials 

* Willcmghby's Ornithology, p. 98. 



17S HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS, 

of which their nests are composed are generally warmer. 
Small bodies retain heat a shorter time than those which are 
large. Hence, the eggs of small birds require a more con- 
stant supply of heat than those of greater dimensions. Their 
nests, accordingly, are built proportionally warmer and deeper, 
and they are lined with softer substances. The larger birds, 
of course, can leave their eggs for some time with impunity ; 
but the smaller kinds sit most assiduously ; for when the female 
is obliged to go abroad in quest of food, the nest is always oc- 
cupied by the male. When a nest is finished, nothing can 
exceed the dexterity of both male and female in concealing it 
from the observation of man, and other destructive animals. 
If it is built in bushes, the pliant branches are disposed in 
such a manner as to hide it entirely from view. To conceal 
her retreat, the chaffinch covers the outside of her nest with 
moss, which is commonly of the same color with the bark of 
the tree on which she builds. The common swallow builds 
its nests on the tops of chimneys ; and the martin attaches 
hers to the corners of windows, or under the eaves of houses. 
Both employ the same materials. The nest is built with mud 
well tempered by the bill, and moistened with water to make 
it more firmly cohere ; and the mud or clay is kept still firmer 
by a mixture of straw or grass. Within it is neatly lined with 
feathers. Willoughby, on the authority of Bontius, informs 
us, ' That on the sea-coast of the kingdom of China, a sort of 
small, party-colored birds, of the shape of swallows, at a cer- 
tain season of the year, viz. their breeding time, come out of 
the midland country to the rocks, and from the foam or froth of 
the sea-water dashing and breaking against the bottom of the 
rocks, gather a certain clammy, glutinous matter, perchance 
the sperm of whales, or other fishes, of which they build their 
nests, wherein they lay their eggs and hatch their young. 
These nests the Chinese pluck from the rocks, and bring 
them in great numbers into the East Indies to sell; which 
are esteemed by gluttons great delicacies, who, dissolving 
them in chicken or mutton broth, are very fond of them, pre- 
ferring them far before oysters, mushrooms, or other dainty 
and lickerish morsels which most gratify the palate. These 
nests are of a hemispherical figure, of the bigness of a goose's 
egg, and of a substance resembling isinglass/ 

Most of the cloven-footed water-fowls, or waders, lay their 
eggs upon the ground. But the spoon-bills and the common 
heron build large nests in trees, and employ twigs and other 
coarse materials ; and the storks build on churches^ or on the 



SOLITARY INSECTS. 179 

tops of houses. Many of the web-footed fowls lay their eggs 
likewise on the ground, as the terns, and sorhe of the gulls 
and mergansers. But ducks pull the down from their own 
breasts, to afford a warmer and more comfortable bed for their 
young. The hawks, the guillemots, and the puffins or coul- 
ternebs, lay their eggs on the naked shelves of high rocks. 
The penguins, for the same purpose, dig large and deep holes 
under ground. 

It is not unworthy of remark, that birds uniformly propor- 
tion the dimensions of their nests to the number and size of 
the young to be produced. Every species lays nearly a de- 
termined number of eggs. But if one be each day abstracted 
from the nest, the bird continues daily to lay more till her 
number is completed. Dr. Lister, by this practice, made a 
swallow lay no less than nineteen eggs. 

The habitations of insects are next to be considered. On 
this branch of the subject we shall first give some examples 
of abodes constructed by solitary workers, and next of those 
habitations which are executed by associated numbers. 

In several preceding parts of this work, the reader will find 
some instances of the skill and industry exhibited by insects, 
for the convenient lodging and protection of their young. 
These it is unnecessary to repeat. We shall, therefore, pro- 
ceed to give some examples of a different kind. 

There are several species of bees distinguished by the ap- 
pellation of solitary ', because they do not associate to carry on 
any joint operations. Of this kind is the mason-bee, so called 
because it builds a habitation composed of sand and mortar. 
The nests of this bee are fixed to the walls of houses, and, 
when finished, have the appearance of irregular prominences 
arising from dirt or clay accidentally thrown against a wall or 
stone by the feet of horses. These prominences are not so 
remarkable as to attract attention; but when the external coat 
is removed, their structure is discovered to be truly admirable. 
The interior part consists of an assemblage of different cells, 
each of which affords a convenient lodgment to a white worm, 
pretty similar to those produced by the honey-bee. Here they 
remain till they have undergone all their metamorphoses. In 
constructing this nest, which is a work of great labor and 
dexterity, the female is the sole operator. She receives no 
assistance from the male. The manner in which the female 
mason-bees build their nests, is the most curious branch of 
their history. 

After choosing a part of a wall on which she is resolved to 



180 HABITATIONS OP ANfMALSv 

fix a habitation for her future progeny, she goes in quest of 
proper materials. The nest to be constructed must consist of 
a species of mortar, of which sand is the basis. She knows, 
like human builders, that every kind of sand is not equally 
proper for making good mortar. She goes, therefore, to a bed 
of sand, and selects, grain by grain, the kind which is best to 
answer her purpose. With her teeth, which are as large and 
as strong as those of the honey-bee, she examines and brings 
together several grains. But sand alone will not make mortar. 
Recourse must be had to a cement similar to the slacked lime 
employed by masons. Our bee is unacquainted with lime, 
but she possesses an equivalent in her own body. From her 
mouth she throws out a viscid liquor, with which she moistens 
the first grain pitched upon. To this grain she cements a 
second, which she moistens in the same manner, and to the 
former two she attaches a third, and so on till she has formed 
a mass as large as the shot usually employed to kill hares. 
This mass she carries off in her teeth to the place she had 
chosen for erecting her nest, and makes it the foundation of 
the first cell. In this manner she labors incessantly till the 
whole cells are completed — a work which is generally accom- 
plished in five or six days. All the cells are similar, and nearly 
equal in dimensions. Before they are covered, their figure 
resembles that of a thimble. She never begins to make a 
second till the first be finished- Each cell is about an inch 
high, and nearly half an inch in diameter. But the labor 
of building is not the only one this female bee has to under- 
go. When a cell has been raised to one half or two thirds 
of its height, another occupation commences. She seems to 
know the quantity of food that will be necessary to nourish 
the young that is to proceed from the egg, from its exclu- 
sion till it acquires its full growth, and passes into the chrys- 
alis state. The food which is prepared for the support of 
the young worm consists of the farina or powder of flowers, 
diluted with honey, which forms a kind of pap. Before the 
cell is entirely finished, the mason-bee collects from the 
flowers, and deposits in the cell, a large quantity of farina, 
and afterwards disgorges upon it as much honey as dilutes 
it, and forms it into a kind of paste, or sirup. When this 
operation is performed, she completes her cell, and, after 
depositing an egg in it, covers the mouth of it with the same 
mortar she uses in building her nest. The egg is now inclos- 
ed on all sides in a walled habitation hermetically sealed. A 
small quantity of air, however, gets admission to the worm, 



SOLITARY INSECTS. 181 

otherwise it could not exist. Reaumur discovered that air 
actually penetrated through this seemingly compact mason- 
work. 

As soon as the first cell is completed, the mason-bee lays 
the foundation of another. In the same nest she often con- 
structs seven or eight cells, and sometimes only three or four. 
She places them near each other, but not in any regular order. 
This industrious animal, after all her cells are constructed, 
filled with provisions, and sealed, covers the whole with an 
envelope of the same mortar, which, when dry, is as hard as 
stone. The nest now is commonly of an oblong or roundish 
figure, and the external cover is composed of coarser sand 
than that of the cells. As the nests are almost as durable as 
the wall on which they are placed, they are often, in the fol* 
lowing season, occupied and repaired by a stranger bee. 
Though inclosed with two hard walls, when the fly emerges 
from the chrysalis state, it first gnaws with its teeth a passage 
through the wall that sealed up the mouth of its cell ; after- 
wards, with the same instruments, it pierces the still stronger 
and more compact cover which invests the whole nest ; at last 
it escapes into the open air, and, if a female, in a short time, 
constructs a nest of the same kind with that which the mother 
had made. To all these facts, Du Hamel, Reaumur, and 
many other naturalists of credit and reputation, have been re- 
peatedly eye-witnesses. 

From the hardness of the materials with which the mason- 
bee constructs her nest, from the industry and dexterity she 
employs to protect her progeny from enemies of every kind, 
one would naturally imagine that the young worms were in 
perfect safety, and that their castle was impregnable. But 
notwithstanding all these favorable precautions, the young of 
the mason-bee are often devoured by the instinctive dexterity 
of certain species of four-winged insects, distinguished by the 
name of ichneumon-flies. These flies, when the mason-bee 
has nearly completed a cell, and filled it with provisions, de- 
posit their own eggs in her cell. After the eggs of the ich- 
neumon-flies are hatched, their worms devour not only the 
provisions laid up by the mason-bee, but even her progeny 
whom she had labored so hard, and with so much art and in- 
genuity, to protect. But the mason-bee has an enemy still 
more formidable. A certain fly employs the same stratagem 
of insinuating an egg into one of her cells before it is com- 
pleted. From this egg proceeds a strong and rapacious worm, 
armed with prodigious fangs. The devastations of this worm 
16 



182 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 



are not confined to one cell. It often pierces through each 
cell in the nest, and successively devours both the mason- 
worms and the provisions so anxiously laid up for their sup- 
port by the mother. This stranger worm is afterwards trans- 
formed into a fine beetle, who is enabled to pierce the nest, 
and to make his escape. 

The operations of another species of solitary bees, called 
wood-piercers, merit attention. These bees are larger than 
the queens of the honey-bee. Their bodies are smooth, ex- 
cept the sides, which are covered with hair. In the spring, 
they frequent gardens, and search for rotten, or at least dead 
wood, in order to make a habitation for their young. When 
a female of this species — for she receives no assistance from 
the male — has selected a piece of wood, or a decayed tree, 
she commences her labor by making a hole in it, which is 
generally directed toward the axis of the tree. When she 
has advanced about half an inch, she alters the direction of 
the hole, and conducts it nearly parallel to the axis of the 
wood. The size of her body requires that this hole should 
have a considerable diameter. It is often so large as to admit 
the finger of a man, and it sometimes extends from twelve to 
fifteen inches in length. If the thickness of the wood permits, 
she makes three or four of these long holes in its interior part. 
M. de Reaumur found three of these parallel holes in an old 
espalier post. Their diameters exceeded half an inch. This 
labor, for a single bee, is prodigious ; but in executing it, she 
consumes weeks, and even months. 

Around the foot of a post or piece of wood where one of 
these bees is working, little heaps of timber-dust are always 
found lying on the ground. These heaps daily increase in 
magnitude, and the particles of dust are as large as those 
produced by a handsaw. The two teeth with which the ani- 
mal is provided, are the only instruments she employs in 
making such considerable perforations. Each tooth consists 
of a solid piece of shell, which in shape resembles an auger. 
It is convex above, concave below, and terminates in a sharp 
but strong point. 

These long holes are designed for lodgings to the worms 
that are to proceed from the eggs, which the bee is soon to 
deposit in them. But after the holes are finished, her labor 
is by no means at an end. The eggs must not be mingled, 
or piled above each other. Every separate worm must have 
a distinct apartment, without any communication with the 
others. Each long hole or tube, accordingly, is only the 



SOLITARY INSECTS. 183 

outer walls of a house, which is to consist of many chambers, 
ranged one above another. A hole of about twelve inches in 
length, she divides into ten or twelve separate apartments, 
each of which is about an inch high. The roof of the lowest 
room is the floor of the second, and so on to the uppermost. 
Each floor is of about the thickness of a French crown. The 
floors or divisions are composed of particles of wood cemented 
together by a glutinous substance from the animal's mouth. 
In making a floor, she commences with gluing an annular 
plate of wood-dust round the internal circumference of the 
cavity. To this plate she attaches a second, to the second a 
third, and to the third a fourth, till the whole floor is comple- 
ted. The undermost cell requires only a roof, and this roof 
is a floor to the second, &c. 

But these operations, though great, and seemingly superior 
to the powers of a creature so small, are not her only labor. 
Before roofing in the first cell, she fills it with a paste or pap, 
composed of the farina of flowers moistened with honey. The 
quantity of paste is equal to the dimensions of the cell, which 
is about an inch high, and half an inch in diameter. In this 
paste, which is to nourish the future worm, she deposits an 
egg. Immediately after this operation, she begins to form a 
roof, which not only incloses the first cell, but serves as a 
floor to the second. The second cell she likewise fills with 
paste, deposits an egg, and then covers the whole with an- 
other roof. In this manner she proceeds, till she has divided 
the whole tube into separate cells. A single tube frequently 
contains from ten to a dozen of these, cells. When the cells 
are all inclosed, the business of this laborious bee is finished, 
and she takes no more charge of her future progeny. The 
attention and solicitude bestowed by many other animals, in 
rearing their young, are exerted after birth. But, in the wood- 
piercing bee, as well as in many other insects, this instinctive 
attachment is reversed. All her labors and all her cares are 
exerted before she either sees her offspring, or knows that 
they are to exist. But, after the description that has been 
given of her amazing operations, she will not be considered 
as an unnatural mother. With astonishing industry and per- 
severance, she not only furnishes her young with safe and con- 
venient lodgings, but lays up for them stores of provisions 
sufficient to support them till their final metamorphosis into 
flies, when the new females perform the same almost incredi- 
ble operations for the protection and sustenance of their own 
offspring. When the young worm is hatched, it has scarcely 



184 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS, 

sufficient space to turn itself in the cell, which is almost entire- 
ly filled with the pappy substance formerly mentioned. But, 
as this substance is gradually devoured by the worm, the space 
in the cell necessarily enlarges in proportion to the growth and 
magnitude of the animal. 

We are informed by M. de Reaumur, that M. Pitot furnished 
him with a piece of wood, not exceeding an inch and a half in 
diameter, which contained the cells of a wood-piercing bee. 
He cut off as much of the wood as was sufficient to expose 
two of the cells to view, in each of which was a worm. The 
aperture he had made, to prevent the injuries of the air, he 
closed, by pasting on a bit of glass. The cells were then 
almost entirely filled with paste. The two worms were ex- 
ceedingly small, and, of course, occupied but little space 
between the walls of the cells and the mass of paste. As the 
animals increased in size, the paste daily diminished. He 
began to observe them on the 12th day of June ; and, on the 
27th of the same month, the paste in each cell was nearly 
consumed, and the worm, folded in two, occupied the greater 
part of its habitation. On the 2d of July, the provisions of 
both worms were entirely exhausted ; and, besides the worms 
themselves, there remained in the cells only a few small, black, 
oblong grains of excrement. The five or six following days 
they fasted, which seemed to be a necessary abstinence, dur- 
ing which they were greatly agitated. They often bended 
their bodies, and elevated and depressed their heads. These 
movements were preparatory to the great change the animals 
were about to undergo. Between the 7th and 8th of the same 
month, they threw off their skins, and were metamorphosed 
into nymphs. On the 30th of July, these nymphs were trans- 
formed into flies similar to their parents. In a range of cells, 
the worms are of different ages, and, of course, of different 
sizes. Those in the lower cells are older than those in the 
superior ; because, after the bee has filled with paste and in- 
closed its first cell, a considerable time is requisite to collect 
provisions, and to form partitions for every successive and 
superior cell. The former, therefore, must be transformed 
into nymphs and flies before the latter. These circumstances 
are apparently foreseen by the common mother; for, if the un- 
dermost worm, which is oldest, and soonest transformed, were 
to force its way upward, which it could easily do, it would 
not only disturb, but infallibly destroy, all those lodged in the 
superior cells. But nature has wisely prevented this devas- 
tation ; for the head of the nymph, and consequently of the 



SOLITARY INSECTS. 185 

fly, is always placed in a downward direction. Its first in- 
stinctive movements must, therefore, be in the same direction. 
That the young flies may escape from their respective cells, 
the mother digs a hole at the bottom of the long tube, which 
makes a communication with the undermost cell and the open 
air. Sometimes a similar passage is made near the middle of 
the tube. By this contrivance, as all the flies instinctively 
endeavor to cut their way downward, they find an easy and 
convenient passage ; for they have only to pierce the floor of 
their cells, which they readily perform with their teeth. 

Another small species of solitary bees dig holes in the earth 
to make a convenient habitation for their young. Their nests 
are composed of cylindrical cells, fixed to one another, and 
each of them, in figure, resembles a thimble. Their bottom, 
of course, is convex or rounded. The bottom of the second 
is inserted into the entry of the first ; and the entry of the 
second receives the bottom of the third. They are not all of 
the same length. Some of them are five lines long, others 
only four, and their diameters seldom exceed two lines. 
Sometimes only two of these cells are joined together; and, 
at other times, we find three or four, which form a kind of 
cylinder. This cylinder is composed of alternate bands of 
two different colors; those of the narrowest, at the juncture 
of two cells, are white, and those of the broadest are of a red- 
dish brown. The cells consist of a number of fine mem- 
branes, formed of a glutinous and transparent substance from 
the animal's mouth. Each cell our bee fills with the farina of 
flowers diluted with honey, and in this paste she deposits an 
^gg* She then covers the cell, by gluing to its mouth a fine 
cellular substance taken from the leaves of some plant ; and 
in this manner she proceeds till her cylindrical nest is com- 
pleted. The worms which are hatched from the eggs, feed 
upon the paste, so carefully laid up for them by the mother, 
tiil they are transformed into flies similar to their parents. 

Among wasps, as well as bees, there are solitary species, 
which carry on no joint operations. These solitary wasps 
are not less ingenious in constructing proper habitations for 
their young, nor less provident in laying up for them a store 
of nourishment sufficient to support them till they are trans- 
formed into flies, or have become perfect animals. But to 
give a detailed description of their operations, would lead us 
into a prolixity, of which the plan of our work does not 
admit. 

I shall now give some examples of the operations of asso- 
16* 



18G ftABiTATlONS OF ANIMALS. 

elating' insect's, who construct habitations by exerting a com- 
mon and mutual labor. 

The skill and dexterity of the honey-bees displayed in the 
construction of their combs or nests, have at all times called 
forth the admiration of mankind. They are composed of cells 
regularly applied to each other's sides. These cells are uni- 
form hexagons or six-sided figures. In a bee-hive, every part 
is arranged with such symmetry, and so finely finished, that, 
if limited to the same materials, the most expert workman 
would find himself unqualified to construct a similar habita- 
tion, or rather a similar city. 

Most natural historians have celebrated bees for their 
wisdom, for the perfection and harmony of their republican 
government, and for their persevering industry and wonderful 
economy. All these splendid talents, however, the late inge- 
nious Count de BufFon has endeavored to persuade us, are. 
only results of pure mechanism. But this is not the proper 
place to enter into a discussion of this point. It will fall 
more naturally to be treated of when we come to describe 
the societies established among different gregarious animals. 
We shall, therefore, at present, confine ourselves chiefly to 
the mode in which bees construct their habitations. 

In the formation of their combs, bees seem to resolve a 
problem which would not be a little puzzling to some geome- 
ters, namely, a quantity of wax being given, to make of it 
equal and similar cells of a determined capacity, but of the 
largest size in proportion to the quantity of matter employed, 
and disposed in such a manner as to occupy in the hive the 
least possible space. Every part of this problem is completely 
executed by the bees. By applying hexagonal cells to each 
other's sides, no void spaces are left between them ; and, 
though the same end might be accomplished by other fig- 
ures, yet they would necessarily require a greater quantity of 
wax. Besides, hexagonal cells are better fitted to receive 
the cylindrical bodies of these insects. A comb consists of 
two strata of cells applied to each other's ends. This arrange- 
ment both saves room in the hive, and it gives a double entry 
into the cells of which the comb is composed. As a further 
saving of wax, and preventing void spaces, the bases of these 
cells in one stratum of a comb serve for bases to the opposite 
stratum. In a word, the more minutely the construction of 
these cells is examined, the more will the admiration of the 
observer be excited. The walls of the cells are so extremely 
thin, that their mouths would be in danger of suffering by 



HONEY-BEE, 187 

entering and issuing of the bees. To prevent this disaster, 
they make a kind of ring round the margin of each cell, and 
this ring is three or four times as thick as the walls. 

It is difficult to perceive, even with the assistance of glass 
hives, the manner in which bees operate when construct- 
ing their cells. They are so eager to afford mutual assist- 
ance, and, for this purpose, so many of them crowd together, 
and are perpetually succeeding each other, that their individ- 
ual operations can seldom be distinctly observed. It has, 
however, been plainly discovered, that their two teeth are the 
only instruments they employ in modelling and polishing the 
wax. With a little patience and attention, we perceive cells 
just begun ; we likewise remark the quickness with which a 
bee moves its teeth against a small portion of the cell. This 
portion the animal, by repeated strokes on each side, smooths, 
renders compact, and reduces to a proper thinness of consist- 
ence. While some of the hive are lengthening their hexagonal 
tubes, others are laying the foundations of new ones. In 
certain circumstances, when extremely hurried, they do not 
complete their new cells, but leave them imperfect till they 
have begun a number sufficient for their present exigencies. 
When a bee puts its head a little way into a cell, we easily 
perceive it scraping the walls with the points of its teeth, in 
order to detatch such useless and irregular fragments as may 
have been left in the work. Of these fragments the bee 
forms a ball about the size of a pin-head, comes out of the 
cell, and carries the wax to another part of the work where it 
is needed. It no sooner leaves the cell, than it is succeeded 
by another bee, which performs the same office ; and in this 
manner the work is successively carried on till the cell is 
completely polished. 

The cells of bees are designed for different purposes. 
Some of them are employed for the accumulation and pres- 
ervation of honey. In others, the female deposits her eggs, 
and from these eggs worms are hatched, which remain in the 
cells till their final transformation into flies. The drones, or 
males, are larger than the common, or working bees ; and 
the queen, or mother of the hive, is much larger than either. 
A cell destined for the lodgment of a male or female worm, 
must, therefore, be considerably larger than the cells of the 
smaller working bees. The number of cells destined for the 
reception of the working bees far exceeds those in which the 
males are lodged. The honey-cells are always made deeper 
and more capacious than the others. When the honey col- 



188 HABITATIONS OP ANIMALS. 

lected is so abundant that the vessels cannot contain it, the 
bees lengthen, and, of course, deepen, the honey-cells. 

Their mode of working, and the disposition and division of 
their labor, when put into an empty hive, do much honor to 
the sagacity of bees. They immediately begin to lay the 
foundations of their combs, which they execute with sur- 
prising quickness and alacrity. Soon after they begin to 
construct one comb, they divide into two or three compa- 
nies, each of which, in different parts of the hive, is occu- 
pied with the same operations. By this division of labor, 
a greater number of bees have an opportunity of being 
employed at the same time, and, consequently, the com- 
mon work is sooner finished. The combs are generally 
arranged in a direction parallel to each other. An inter- 
val, or street, between the combs, is always left, that the 
bees may have a free passage, and an easy communication 
with the different combs in the hive. These streets are 
just wide enough to allow two bees to pass one another. 
Beside these parallel streets to shorten their journey when 
working, they leave several round cross passages, which 
are always covered. 

Hitherto we have chiefly taken notice of the manner in 
which bees construct and polish their cells, without treating 
of the materials they employ. We have not marked the dif- 
ference between the crude matter collected from flowers and 
the true wax. Every body knows that bees carry into their 
hives, by means of their hind thighs, great quantities of the 
farina, or dust, of flowers. After many experiments made by 
Reaumur, with a view to discover whether this dust contained 
real wax, he was obliged to acknowledge that he could never 
find that wax formed any part of its composition. He at 
length discovered, that wax was not a substance produced by 
the mixture of farina with any glutinous substance, nor by 
trituration, or any mechanical operation. By long and at- 
tentive observation, he found that the bees actually eat the 
farina which they so industriously collect ; and that this 
farina, by an animal process, is converted into wax. This 
digestive process, which is necessary to the formation of wax, 
is carried on in the second stomach, and perhaps in the intes- 
tines of bees. After knowing the place where this operation 
is performed, chemists will probably allow, that it is equally 
difficult to make real wax with the farina of flowers, as to 
make chyle with animal or vegetable substances, a work 
which is daily executed by our own stomach and intestines, 



HONEY-BEE. 189 

and by those of other animals. Reaumur likewise discovered, 
that all the cells in a hive were not destined for the reception 
of honey and for depositing the eggs of the female, but that 
some of them were employed as receptacles for the farina of 
flowers, a species of food that bees find necessary for the 
formation of wax, which is the great basis and raw material 
of all their curious operations. When a bee comes to the 
hive with its thighs filled with farina, it is often met near the 
entrance by some of its companions, who first take off the 
load, and then devour the provisions so kindly brought them. 
But, when none of the bees employed in the l/'ve are hungry 
for this species of food, the carriers of the farina deposit their 
loads in cells prepared for that purpose. To these cells the 
bees resort, when the weather is so bad that they cannot ven- 
ture to go to the fields in quest of fresh provisions. The car- 
rying bees, however, commonly enter the hive loaded with 
farina. They walk along the combs, beating and making a 
noise with their wings. By these movements they seem to 
announce their arrival to their companions. No sooner has 
a loaded bee made these movements, than three or four of 
those within leave their work, come up to it, and first take 
off its load, and then eat the materials it has brought. As a 
further evidence that the bees actually eat the farina of flow- 
ers, when the stomach and intestines are laid open, they are 
often found to be filled with this dust, the grains of which, 
when examined by the microscope, have the exact figure, 
color, and consistence of farina, taken from the antherae of 
particular flowers. After the farina is digested, and converted 
into wax, the bees possess the power of bringing it from their 
stomachs to their mouths. The instrument they employ in 
furnishing materials for constructing their waxen cells is 
their tongue. This tongue is situated below the two teeth 
or fangs. When at work, the tongue may be seen by the 
assistance of a lens and a glass hive. It is then in perpetual 
motion, and its motions are extremely rapid. Its figure con- 
tinually varies. Sometimes it is more sharp ; at others it is 
flatter ; and^sometimes it is more or less concave, and partly 
covered with a moist paste or wax. By the different move- 
ments of its tongue, the bee continues to supply fresh wax to 
the two teeth, which are employed in raising and fashioning 
the walls of its cell, till they have acquired a sufficient height. 
As soon as the moist paste or wax dries, which it does almost 
instantaneously, it then assumes all the appearances and qual- 
ities of common wax, There is a still stronger proof that 



190 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS, 

wax is the result of an animal process. When bees are 
removed into a new hive, and closely confined from the 
morning to the evening, if the hive chances to please them, 
in the course of this day several waxen cells will be formed, 
without the possibility of a single bee's having had access to 
the fields. Besides, the rude materials, or the farina of plants 
carried into the hive, are of various colors. The farina of 
some plants employed by the bees is whitish ; in others, it is 
of a fine yellow color ; in others, it is almost entirely red ; 
and in others, it is green. The combs constructed with these 
differently colored materials, are, however, uniformly of the 
same color. Every comb, especially when it is newly made, 
is of a pure white color, which is more or less tarnished by 
age, the operation of the air, or by other accidental circum- 
stances. To bleach wax, therefore, requires only the art of 
extracting such foreign bodies as may have insinuated them- 
selves into its substance, and changed its original color. 

Bees, from the nature of their constitution, require a warm 
habitation. They are likewise extremely solicitous to pre- 
vent insects of any kind from getting admittance into their 
hives. To accomplish both these purposes, when they take 
possession of a new hive, they carefully examine every part 
of it ; and if they discover any small holes or chinks, they 
immediately paste them firmly up with a resinous substance, 
which differs considerably from wax. This substance was 
not unknown to the ancients. Pliny mentions it under the 
name of propolis, or bee-glue. Bees use the propolis for ren- 
dering their hives more close and perfect, in preference to 
wax, because the former is more durable, and more powerful- 
ly resists the vicissitudes of weather, than the latter. This 
glue is not, like wax, procured by an animal process. The 
bees collect it from different trees, as the poplars, the birches, 
and the willows. It is a complete production of nature, and 
requires no addition or manufacture from the animals by 
which it is employed. After a bee has procured a quantity 
sufficient to fill the cavities in its two hind thighs, it repairs to* 
the hive. Two of its companions instantly draw out the pro- 
polis, and apply it to fill up such chinks, holes, *or other defi- 
ciencies, as they find in their habitation. But this is not the 
only use to which bees apply the propolis. They are extremely 
solicitous to remove such insects or foreign bodies as happen 
to get admission into the hive. When so light as not to ex- 
ceed their powers, they first kill the insect with their stings, 
and then drag it out with their teeth. But it sometimes hap- 



HONE\r-B£E, 191 

pens that an ill-fated snail creeps into the hive. It is no 
sooner perceived, than it is attacked on all sides, and stung 
to death. But how are the bees to carry out a burthen of 
such weight ? This labor they know would be in vain. 
They are, perhaps, apprehensive that a body so large would 
diffuse, in the course of its putrefaction, a disagreeable or 
noxious odor through the hive. To prevent such hurtful con- 
sequences, immediately after the animal's death, they embalm 
it, by covering every part of its body with propolis, through 
which no effluvia can escape. When a snail with a shell 
gets entrance, to dispose of it gives much less trouble and 
expense to the bees. As soon as this kind of snail receives 
the first wound from a sting, it naturally retires within its 
shell. In this case, the bees, instead of pasting it all over 
with propolis, content themselves with gluing all round the 
margin of the shell, which is sufficient to render the animal 
forever immovably fixed. 

But propolis and the materials for making wax are not the 
only substances these industrious animals have to collect. As 
formerly remarked, beside the whole winter there are many 
days in which the bees are prevented by the weather from 
going abroad in quest of provisions. They are, therefore, un- 
der the necessity of collecting, and laying up in cells destined 
for that purpose, large quantities of honey. This sweet and 
balsamic liquor they extract, by means of their proboscis or 
trunk, from the nectariferous glands of flowers. The trunk 
of a bee is of a kind of rough cartilaginous tongue. After 
collecting a few small drops of honey, the animal with its 
proboscis conveys them to its mouth, an,d swallows them. 
From the oesophagus, or gullet, it passes into the first stom- 
ach, which is more or less swelled in proportion to the 
quantity of honey it contains. When empty, it has the ap- 
pearance of a fine white thread; but, when filled with honey, 
it assumes the figure of an oblong bladder, the membrane of 
which is so thin and transparent, that it allows the color of the 
liquor it contains to be distinctly seen. This bladder is well 
known to children who live in the country. They cruelly 
amuse themselves with catching bees, and tearing them asun- 
der, in order to suck the honey. A single flower furnishes but 
a small quantity of honey. The bees are therefore obliged to 
fly from one flower to another till they fill their first stomachs. 
When they have accomplished this purpose, they return di- 
rectly to the hive, and disgorge in a cell the whole honey 
they have collected. It not unfrequently happens, however, 



192 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS 

that, when on its way to the hive, it is accosted by a hungry 
companion. How the one can communicate its necessity to 
the other, it is perhaps impossible to discover. But the fact 
is certain, that, when two bees meet in this situation, they 
mutually stop, and the one whose stomach is full of honey 
extends its trunk, opens its mouth, which lies a little beyond 
the teeth, and, like ruminating animals, forces up the honey 
into that cavity. The hungry bee knows how to take advan- 
tage of this hospitable invitation. With the point of its trunk 
it sucks the honey from the other's mouth. When not stop- 
ped on the road, the bee proceeds to the hive, and in the 
same manner offers its honey to those who are at work, as if 
it meant to prevent the necessity of quitting their labor in 
order to go in quest of food. In bad weather, the bees feed 
upon the honey laid up in open cells ; but they never touch 
these reservoirs when their companions are enabled to sup- 
ply them with fresh honey from the fields. But the mouths of 
those cells which are destined for preserving honey during 
winter, they always cover with a lid or thin plate of wax. 

Wasps, like the bees, associate in great numbers, and con- 
struct, with much dexterity and skill, a common habitation. 
There are many species of wasps, some of which unite into 
societies, and others spend their lives in perfect solitude. But, 
in this place, we shall confine our attention to the operations 
of the common associating wasp, an insect so well known, 
even to children, that it requires no description. Though 
bees, as well as wasps, are armed with a sting, yet the for- 
mer may be regarded as a placid and harmless race. Bees 
are continually occupied with their own labors. Their chief 
care is to defend themselves ; and they never take nour- 
ishment at the expense of any other animal. Wasps, on the 
contrary, are ferocious animals, who live entirely on rapine 
and destruction. They kill and devour every insect that is 
inferior to them in strength. But though warlike and rapa- 
cious in their general manners, they are polished and peace- 
able among themselves. To their young they discover the 
greatest tenderness and affection. For their protection and 
conveniency no labor is spared ; and the habitations they 
construct do honor to their patience, address, and sagacity. 
Their architecture, like that of the honey-bee, is singular, 
and worthy of admiration ; but the materials employed fur- 
nish neither honey nor wax. Impelled by an instinctive love 
of posterity, they, with great labor, skill, and assiduity, con- 
struct combs, which are likewise composed of hexagonal or 



wasps* 193 

Six-sided cells. Though these cells are not^made of wax> 
they are equally proper for the reception of eggs, and for af- 
fording convenient habitations to the worms which proceed 
from them till their transformation into wasps. 

In general, the cells of the wasps are formed of a kind of 
paper, which, with great dexterity, is fabricated by the ani- 
mals themselves. The number of combs and cells in a. 
wasp^s nest, is always proportioned to the number of indi- 
viduals associated. Different species choose different situa- 
tions for building their nests. Some expose their habitations 
to all the injuries of the air ; others prefer the trunks of 
decayed trees ; and others, as the common kind, of which we 
are principally treating, conceal their nests under ground* 
The hole which leads to a wasp's nest is about an inch in 
diameter. This hole is a kind of gallery mined by the wasps, 
is seldom in a straight line, and varies in length from half a 
foot to two feet, according to the distance of the nest from 
the surface of the ground. When exposed to view, the whole 
nest appears to be of a roundish form, and sometimes about 
twelve or fourteen inches in diameter. It is strongly fortified 
all round with walls or layers of paper, the surface of which 
is rough and irregular. In these walls, or rather in this ex- 
ternal covering, two holes are left for passages to the combs. 
The wasps uniformly enter the nest by one hole, and go out 
by the other, which prevents any confusion or interruption to 
their common labors. 

We are now arrived at the gates of this subterraneous city, 
which, though small, is extremely populous. Upon removing 
the external covering, we perceive that the whole interior part 
consists of several stories or floors of combs, which are paral- 
lel to each other, and nearly in a horizontal position. Every 
story is composed of a numerous assemblage of hexagonal 
cells, very regularly constructed with a matter resembling ash- 
colored paper. These cells contain neither wax nor honey, 
but are solely destined for containing the eggs, the worms 
which are hatched from them, the nymphs, and the young 
wasps till they are able to fly. Wasps' nests are not always 
composed of an equal number of combs. They sometimes 
consist of fifteen, and sometimes of eleven only. The combs 
are of various diameters. The first, or uppermost, is often 
only two inches in diameter, while those of the middle some- 
times exceed a foot. The lowest are also much smaller than 
the middle ones. All these combs, like so many floors or 
stories ranged in a parallel manner above each other, afford 
17 



194 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

lodging to prodigious numbers of inhabitants. Reaumur 
computed, from the number of cells in a given portion of 
comb, that, in a medium-sized nest^ there were at least 
10,000 cells. This calculation gives an idea of the astonish- 
ingly prolific powers of these insects, and the vast numbers 
of individuals produced in a single season from one nest ; 
for every cell serves as a lodging to no less than three gene- 
rations. Hence a moderately-sized nest gives birth annually 
to 30,000 young wasps. 

The different stories of combs are always about half an 
inch high, which leaves free passages to the wasps from one 
part of the nest to another. These intervals are so spacious, 
that, in proportion to the bulk of the animals, they may be 
compared to great halls or broad streets. Each of the larger 
combs is supported by about fifty pillars, which, at the same 
time, give solidity to the fabric, and greatly ornament the 
whole nest. The lesser combs are supported by the same 
ingenious contrivance. These pillars are coarse, and of a 
roundish form. Their bases and capitals, however, are much 
larger in diameter than the middle. By the one end they are 
attached to the superior comb, and by the other to the infe- 
rior. Thus between two combs there is always a species of 
rustic colonnade. The wasps begin at the top, and build 
downward. The uppermost and smallest comb is first con- 
structed. It is attached to the superior part of the external 
covering. The second comb is fixed to the bottom of the 
first ; and in this manner the animals proceed till the whole 
operation is completed. The connecting pillars are composed 
of the same kind of paper as the rest of the nest. To allow 
the wasp entries into the void spaces, roads are left between 
the combs and the external envelope or covering. 

Having given a general idea of this curious edifice, it is 
next natural to inquire how the wasps build, and how they 
employ themselves in their abodes. But as all these mys- 
teries are performed under the earth, it required much indus- 
try and attention to discover them. By the ingenuity and 
perseverance of M. de Reaumur, however, we are enabled to 
explain some parts of their internal economy and manners. 
This indefatigable naturalist contrived to make wasps, like the 
honey-bees, lodge and work in glass hives. In this operation 
he was greatly assisted by the ardent affection which these 
animals have to their offspring ; for he found, that, though 
the nest was cut in different directions, and though it was ex- 
posed to the light, the wasps never deserted it, nor relaxed 



wasps. 195 

in their attention to their young. When placed in a glass 
hive, they are perfectly peaceable, and never 'attack the ob- 
server, if he calmly contemplates their operations ; for, natu- 
rally, they do not sting, unless they are irritated. 

Immediately after a wasp's nest has been transported from 
its natural situation, and covered with a glass hive, the first 
operation of the insects is to repair the injuries it has suffered. 
With wonderful activity they carry off all the earth and foreign 
bodies that may have accidentally been conveyed into the hive. 
Some of them occupy themselves in fixing the nest to the top 
and sides of the hive by pillars of paper, similar to those which 
support the different stories or strata of combs ; others repair 
the breaches it has sustained; and others fortify it by aug- 
menting considerably the thickness of its external cover. 
This external envelope is an operation peculiar to wasps. 
Its construction requires great labor ; for it frequently ex- 
ceeds an inch and a half in thickness, and is composed of a 
number of strata or layers as thin as paper, between each of 
which there is a void space. This cover is a kind of box for 
inclosing the combs, and defending them from the rain which 
occasionally penetrates the earth. For this purpose it is ad- 
mirably adapted. If it were one solid mass, the contact of 
water would penetrate the whole and reach the combs. But 
to prevent this fatal effect, the animals leave considerable 
vacuities between the vaulted layers, which are generally 
fifteen or sixteen in number. By this ingenious piece of 
architecture, one or two layers may be moistened with water, 
while the others are not in the least affected. 

The materials employed by wasps in the construction of 
their nests, are very different from those made use of by the 
honey-bee. Instead of collecting the farina of flowers, and 
digesting it into wax, the wasps gnaw with their two fangs, 
which are strong and serrated, small fibres of wood from the 
sashes of windows, the posts of espaliers, garden doors, &c, 
but never attempt growing or green timber. These fibres, 
though very slender, are often a line, or a twelfth part of an 
inch long. After cutting a certain number of them, the ani- 
mals collect them into minute bundles, transport them to 
their nest, and, by means of a glutinous substance furnished 
from their own bodies, form them into a moist and ductile 
paste. Of this substance, or papier mache, they construct 
the external cover, the partitions of the nest, the hexagonal 
cells, and the solid columns which support the several layers 
or stories of combs. 



196 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

The constructing of the nest occupies a comparatively 
small number of laborers. The others are differently em- 
ployed. Here it is necessary to remark, that the republics of 
wasps, like those of the honey-bees, consist of three kinds of 
flies, males, females, and neuters. Like the bees, also, the 
number of neuters far surpasses that of both males and fe- 
males. The greatest quantity of labor is devolved upon the 
neuters ; but they are not, like the neuter bees, the only 
workers ; for there is no part of their operations which the 
females, at certain times, do not execute. Neither do the 
males, though their industry is not comparable to that of the 
neuters, remain entirely idle. They often occupy themselves 
in the interior part of the nest. The greatest part of the labor, 
however, is performed by the neuters. They build the nest, feed 
the males, the females, and even the young. But while the 
neuters are employed in these different operations, the others 
are abroad in hunting parties. Some attack with intrepidity 
live insects, which they sometimes carry entire to the nest ; 
but they generally transport the abdomen or belly only. Oth- 
ers pillage butchers' stalls, from which they often arrive with 
a piece of meat larger than the half of their own bodies. 
Others resort to gardens, and suck the juices of fruits. When 
they return to the nest, they distribute a part of their plunder 
to the females, to the males, and even to such neuters as have 
been usefully occupied at home. As soon as a neuter enters 
the nest, it is surrounded by several wasps, to each of w r hom 
it freely gives a portion of the food it has brought. Those 
who have not been hunting for prey, but have been sucking 
the juices of fruits, though they seem to return empty, fail not 
to regale their companions ; for, after their arrival, they station 
themselves upon the upper part of the nest, and discharge 
from their mouths two or three drops of a clear liquid, which 
are immediately swallowed by the domestics. 

The neuter wasps, though the most laborious, are the 
smallest; but they are extremely active and vivacious. The 
females are much larger, heavier, and slower in their move- 
ments. The males are of an intermediate size between that 
of the females and neuters. From these differences in size, 
it is easy to distinguish the different kinds of those wasps 
which build their nests below the ground. In the hive of the 
honey-bee, the number of females is always extremely small ; 
but in a wasp's nest there are often more than three hundred 
females. During the months of June, July, and August, they 
remain constantly in the nest, and are never seen abroad, ex- 



wasps* 197 

cept in the beginning of spring, and in the ^months of Sep- 
tember and October. During the summer, they are totally 
occupied in laying their eggs and feeding their young. In 
this last operation, they are assisted by the other wasps ; for 
the females alone, though numerous, would be insufficient for 
the laborious task. A wasp's nest, when completed, some- 
times consists of sixteen thousand cells, each of which contains 
an egg, a worm, or a nymph. The eggs are white, trans- 
parent, of an oblong figure, and differ in size, according to 
the kind of wasps which are to proceed from them* Some of 
them are no larger than the head of a small pin. They are 
so firmly glued to the bottoms of the cells, that it is with dif- 
ficulty they can be detached without breaking. Eight days 
after the eggs are deposited in the cells, the worms are hatched, 
and are considerably larger than the eggs which gave birth 
to them. These worms demand the principal cares of the 
wasps who continue always in the nest. They feed them, as 
birds feed their young, by giving them, from time to time, a 
mouthful of food. It is astonishing to see with what industry 
and rapidity a female runs along the cells of a comb, and 
distributes to each worm a portion of nutriment. In propor- 
tion to the ages and conditions of the worms, they are fed 
with solid food, such as the bellies of insects, or with a liquid 
substance disgorged by the mother. When a worm is so 
large as to occupy its whole cell, it is then ready to be meta- 
morphosed into a nymph. It then refuses all nourishment, 
and ceases to have any connection with the wasps in the nest. 
It shuts up the mouth of its cell with a fine silken cover, in 
the same manner as the silkworm and other caterpillars spin 
their cods. This operation is completed in three or four 
hours, and the animal remains in the nymph state nine or ten 
days, when, with its teeth, it destroys the external cover of 
the cell, and comes forth in the form of a winged insect, 
which is either male, female or neuter, according to the na- 
ture of the egg from which it was iiatched. In a short time, 
the wasps newly transformed receive the food brought into 
the nest by the foragers in the fields. What is still more 
curious, in the course of the first day after their transforma- 
tion, the young wasps have been observed going to the fields, 
bringing in provisions, and distributing them to the worms in 
the cells. A cell is no sooner abandoned by a young wasp, 
than it is cleaned, trimmed, and repaired by an old one, and 
rendered, in every respect, proper for the reception of an- 
other egg. 

17* 



198 HABITATIONS OP ANIMALS. 

As formerly mentioned, wasps of different sexes differ great- 
ly in size. The animals know how to construct cells propor- 
tioned to the dimensions of the fly that is to proceed from the 
egg which the female deposits in them. The neuters are 
six times smaller than the females, and their cells are built 
nearly in the same proportion. Cells are not only adapted 
for the reception of neuters, males and females, but it is re- 
markable that the cells of the neuters are never intermixed 
with those of the males or females. A comb is entirely oc- 
cupied with small cells fitted for the reception of neuter 
worms. But male and female cells are often found in the 
same comb. The males and females are of equal length, 
and of course require cells of an equal deepness. But the 
cells of the males are narrower than those of the females, 
because the bodies of the former are never so thick as those 
of the latter. 

This wonderful assemblage of combs, of the pillars which 
support them, and of the external envelope, is an edifice 
which requires several months' labor, and serves the animals 
one year only. This habitation, so populous in summer, is 
almost deserted in winter, and abandoned entirely in spring ; 
for, in this last season, not a single wasp is to be found in a 
nest of the preceding year. It is worthy of remark, that the 
first combs of a nest are always accommodated for the recep- 
tion of the neuter or working wasps. The city, of which the 
foundation has just been laid, requires a number of workmen. 
The neuter or working wasps are accordingly first produced. 
A cell is no sooner half completed than an egg of a neuter is 
deposited in it by the female. Of fourteen or fifteen combs 
inclosed in a common cover, the four last only are destined 
for the reception of males and females. Hence it uniformly 
happens, that, before the males and females are capable of 
taking flight, every wasp's nest is peopled with several thou- 
sand neuters or workers. But the neuters, who are first pro- 
duced, are likewise the first that perish ; for not one of them 
survives the termination even of a mild winter. It was re- 
marked by the ancient naturalists, that some wasps lived one 
year only, and others two. To the former, Aristotle gives the 
appellation of operarii, which are our workers or neuters, and 
to the latter matrices, which are our females. 

The female wasps are stronger, and support the rigors of 
winter better than the males or neuters. Before the end of 
winter, however, several hundred females die, and not above 
ten or a dozen in each nest survive that season. These few 



ANTS. 199 

females are destined for the continuation gf the species. 
Each of them becomes the founder of a new republic. When 
a queen bee departs from a hive, in order to establish a new 
one, she is always accompanied with several thousand indus- 
trious laborers, ready to perform every necessary operation. 
But the female wasp has not the aid of a single laborer ; for 
all the neuters are dead before the beginning of the spring. 
The female alone lays the foundation of a new republic. She 
either finds or digs a hole under the earth, builds cells for the 
reception of her eggs f and feeds the worms which proceed 
from them. Whenever any of these neuter worms are trans- 
formed into flies, they immediately assist their parent in aug- 
menting the number of cells and combs, and in feeding the 
young worms which are daily hatching from the eggs, In a 
word, this female wasp, which in spring was perfectly solitary, 
without any proper habitation, and had every operation to 
perform, has, in autumn, several thousands of her offspring at 
her devotion, and is furnished with a magnificent palace, or 
rather city, to protect her from the injuries of the weather 
and from external enemies. 

With regard to the male wasps, it is uncertain whether any 
of them survive the winter. But, though not so indolent as 
the males of the honey-bee, they can be of little assistance to 
the female,* for they never engage in any work of importance, 
such as constructing cells, or fortifying the external cover of 
the nest. They are never brought forth till towards the end 
of August ; and their sole occupation seems to be that of 
keeping the nest clean. They carry but every kind of filth, 
and the carcasses of such of their companions as happen to 
die. In performing this operation, two of them often join, 
and, as mentioned in another place, when the load is too 
heavy, they cut off the head, and transport the dead animal 
at two different times. 

The males and females are produced at the same time, and 
they are nearly equal in number. Like the male honey-bees, 
the male wasps are destitute of stings ; but the females and 
neuters have stings, the poisonous liquor of which, when in- 
troduced into any part of the human body, excites inflamma- 
tion, and creates a considerable degree of pain. 

' The habitations and economy of the various species of 
Ants are equally curious with those which have been de- 
scribed. There are, as with the wasps and bees, individuals 
of three sorts ; males and females, which have wings, and 
neuters, which are without them. The former desert the habi- 



200 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS, 

tations in which they have been reared, as soon as they have 
undergone the last metamorphosis, and seldom revisit them. 
They live principally in the air, like other insects, forming 
numerous swarms. The females, as soon as they are ready 
to deposit their eggs, wander from their place of birth, deprive 
themselves of their wings by means of their feet, and found a 
new establishment, whilst the males, having become entirely 
useless, all perish. A few of the females are seized by the 
neuters, confined in the original habitation, deprived of their 
wings, and obliged to lay their eggs there, and are then driven 
out to perish. 

'The neuters are distinguished not only by the want of 
wings, but by the size of their head, the strength of their 
jaws, and the length of their feet. They have charge of the 
principal part of the labor of preparing for the reception and 
nourishment of the young. The nests of ants differ very 
much in different species. They are generally made in the 
earth. Some merely dig out the sand and form holes running 
in different directions, so that the habitation is almost entirely 
subterraneous. Others gather together particles of many 
different kinds, and raise mounds of considerable size above 
the surface of the earth in the form of domes. Others choose 
for their residence the trunks of old trees, the interior of 
which they pierce with holes passing in every direction. All 
the passages or galleries of which these habitations consist, 
terminate in an apartment designed for the reception of the 
young. 

1 The food of ants consists of fruit, insects and their larvae^ 
and the bodies of small quadrupeds and birds. The neuters ? 
which are the providers for the whole establishment, are 
principally governed in their researches by the senses of 
touch and smell. With the fruits of their labors they feed 
the larvae while in a helpless state. In warm weather they 
drag them up for the benefit of the heat to the outside of their 
holes, and, at the approach of night or of bad weather, convey 
them back again into the recesses of their habitations. In 
short, all their labor and care are directed with a view to the 
accommodation and preservation of an offspring in which they 
really have no share. They defend them against the attack 
of all enemies, and risk for them their safety and their lives ; 
and after watching them with unremitting assiduity until they 
have arrived at the perfect state, they will not then suffer 
them to leave the nest unless the weather be fine and propi- 
tious, when they permit them to take their departure,' 



TERMITES. 201 

■ The male and female ants perish at the approach of win- 
ter, but the neuters survive it, and pass the cold months in a 
dormant state in the recesses of their habitations. Their 
forethought and providence, then, in the provision of food, 
has not for its object their own support, but that of their 
young ; and, in preparing for the winter, they have merely to 
render their habitations tight and secure against the cold.' 

The habitations and operations of the Termites, a species of 
insects frequently called white ants,* although of a different 
genus, and even a different order, from the common ants, are 
well worthy of attention. They infest Guinea, and all the 
tropical regions, where, for their depredations upon property, 
they are greatly dreaded by the inhabitants. 

Of these insects there are several species ; but they all re- 
semble each other in form, and in their manner of living. 
They differ, however, as much as birds, in the style of their 
architecture, and in the selection of the materials of which 
their nests are composed. Some build on the surface, or 
partly above and partly below the ground, and others on the 
trunks or branches of lofty trees. 

Before describing the "nests or hills, it is necessary to give 
some idea of the animals themselves, and of their general 
economy and manners. We shall confine ourselves to that 
species called termites bellicosi, or fighters, because they are 
largest and best known on the coast of Africa. 

The republic of the termites bellicosi, like the other spe- 
cies of this genus, consists of three ranks or orders of insects, 
1. The working insects, which Mr. Srheathman distinguishes 
by the name of laborers ; 2. The fighters or soldiers, which 
perform no kind of labor ; and, 3. The winged or perfect 
insects, which are male and female. These last Mr. Smeath- 
man calls the nobility or gentry ; because they neither labor 
nor fight. The nobility alone are capable of being raised to 
the rank of kings and queens. A few weeks after their 
elevation to this state, they emigrate, in order to establish 
new empires. 

In a nest or hill, the laborers, or working insects, are 
always most numerous. There are at least one hundred 
laborers to one of the fighting insects or soldiers. When in 

* In the windward parts of Africa, they are denominated bugga, bugs ; in the 
West Indies wood-lice, wood-ants, or white-ants. They are likewise called piercers, 
eaters, or cutters, because they cut almost every thing in pieces. This account of 
the termites is selected, with some slight alterations, from an excellent description 
of them in the Philosophical Transactions, by Mr. Henry Smeathman. Vol. LXXI. 
Fart I, p. 139. 



202 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS, 

this state, they are about a fourth of an inch in length, which 
is rather smaller than some of our ants. From their figure 
and fondness for wood, they are very generally known by the 
name of wood-lice. 

The second order , or soldiers, differ in figure from that of 
the laborers. The former have been supposed to be neuters* 
and the latter males. But, in fact, they are the same insects. 
They have only undergone a change of form, and made a 
nearer approach to the perfect state. They are now much 
larger, being half an inch in length, and equal in size to fif- 
teen of the laborers. The form of the head is likewise greatly 
changed. In the laborer state, the mouth is evidently formed 
for gnawing or holding bodies ; but in the soldier state, the 
jaws, being shaped like two sharp awls a little jagged, are 
destined solely for piercing or wounding. For these purposes 
they are very well calculated, for they are as hard as a crab's 
claw, and placed in a strong, horny head, which is of a nut- 
brown color, and larger than the whole body. 

The figure of the third order, or that of the insect in its 
perfect state, is still more changed. The head, the thorax* 
and the abdomen, differ almost entirely from the same parts 
in the laborers and soldiers. Beside, the animals are now 
furnished with four large, brownish, transparent wings, by 
which they are enabled, at the proper season, to emigrate and 
to establish new settlements. In the winged or perfect state 
they are greatly altered in their size as well as in their figure. 
Their bodies now measure between six and seven-tenths of 
an inch, their wings, from tip to tip, above two inches and a 
half, and their bulk is equal to that of thirty laborers, or two 
soldiers. Instead of active, industrious, and rapacious little 
animals, when they arrive at their perfect state, they become 
innocent, helpless, and dastardly. Their numbers are great ; 
but their enemies are still more numerous. They are devour- 
ed by birds, by every species of ants, by carnivorous reptiles, 
and even by the inhabitants of many parts of Africa. 

Of those that escape, some are seized upon by the laboring 
insects, and are made the founders of new states. They are 
immediately inclosed in a chamber suitable to their size. This 
is built around them, and has an entrance too small for them 
to go out, but large enough for the laborers to pass in and 
out. It was the opinion of former observers, that both 
males and females were thus preserved ; but the analogy of 
other insects renders it probable that it is females alone. 
At any rate, there soon takes place a most extraordinary 



TERMITES. ^03 

enange in the female or queen. Her abdomen is gradually 
extended and enlarged to a most enormous *size ; so that in 
an old queen it has been found to have increased to 1500 
or 2000 times the bulk of the rest of the body, and 20 or 
30,000 times the bulk of a common laborer. The skin ex- 
tends in every direction, so that the abdomen, which is not 
originally more than half an inch in length, has at length 
each of its segments removed to that distance from each 
other. When the animal is two years old, the abdomen has 
increased to three inches in length, and they have sometimes 
been found of twice that size. This is now full of eggs, 
which are contained in a vast number of very minute and 
convoluted vessels, which, moving in a serpentine manner, 
cause an undulating appearance without, like that of the 
peristaltic motion of the intestines. By means of this motion, 
the eggs are protruded in almost incredible numbers, to the 
amount, as has been pretty accurately calculated, of 80,000 
or upward in twenty-four hours. 

The eggs are instantly taken care of by the laborers, and 
placed in proper depositories or nurseries, where they are 
hatched. The young are then attended, and provided with 
every thing necessary until they are able to shift for them- 
selves, and take their share in the labors of the community. 

The nests of the termites bellicosi, or wood-lice, are called 
hills by the natives of Africa, New Holland, and other hot 
climates. This appellation is highly proper ; for they are of- 
ten elevated ten or twelve feet above the surface of the earth, 
and are nearly of a conical figure. These hills, instead of 
being rare phenomena, are so frequent in many places near 
Senegal, that, as described with great propriety by Mons. 
Adanson, their number, magnitude, and closeness of situation, 
make them appear like villages of the negroes. ( Of all the 
extraordinary things I observed/ says Mons. Adanson, in his 
voyage to Senegal, c nothing struck me more than certain 
eminences, which, by their height and regularity, made me 
take them, at a distance, for an assemblage of negro huts, or 
a considerable village, and yet they were only the nests of 
certain insects. These nests are round pyramids, from eight 
to ten feet high, upon nearly the same base, with a smooth 
surface of rich clay, excessively hard and well built.' Job- 
son, in his history of Gambia, tells us that 'the ant-hills are 
remarkable, cast up in those parts by the pismires, some of 
them twenty foot in height, of compasse to contayne a dozen 
men, with the heat of the sun baked into that hardnesse, that 



204 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS 

we used to hide ourselves in the ragged toppes of them, when 
we took up stands to shoot at deefe or wild beasts/ Mr. Bos- 
man remarks, in his description of Guinea, that ' the ants 
make nests of the earth about twice the height of a man.' 

Each of these hills is composed of an exterior and an inte* 
rior part. The exterior cover is a large clay shell, which 
is shaped like a dome. Its strength and magnitude are suffi- 
cient to inclose and protect the interior building from the in- 
juries of the weather, and to defend its numerous inhabitants 
from the attacks of natural or accidental enemies. The ex- 
ternal dome or cover is, therefore, always much stronger than 
the internal building, which is the habitation of the insects^ 
and is divided with wonderful artifice and regularity into a 
vast number of apartments for the residence and accommoda- 
tion of the king and queen, for the nursing of their progeny, 
and for magazines, which are always well stored with pro- 
visions. 

These hills make their first appearance in the form of con- 
ical turrets, about a foot high. In a short time, the insects 
erect, at a little distance, other turrets, and go on increasing 
their number and widening their basis till their under works 
are covered with these turrets, which the animals always 
raise highest in the middle of the hill, and, by filling up the 
intervals between each turret, collect them at last into one 
great dome. 

The royal chamber appears to be, in the opinion of this lit- 
tle people, of the most consequence, and is always situated 
as near the centre of the interior building as possible, and 
generally about the height of the common surface of the 
ground. It is always nearly in the shape of half an egg, or 
an obtuse oval, within, and may be supposed to represent a 
long oven. In the infant state of the colony, it is not above 
an inch, or thereabouts, in length ; but, in time, will be in- 
creased to six or eight inches, or more, in the clear, being 
always in proportion to the size of the queen, who, increasing 
in bulk as in age, at length requires a chamber of such di- 
mensions. 

The royal chamber is surrounded by an innumerable quan- 
tity of others, which are of different sizes, figures, and dimen- 
sions ; but all of them are arched either in a circular or an 
elliptical form. These chambers either open into each other, 
or have communicating passages, which, being always clear, 
are evidently intended for the conveniency of the soldiers 
and attendants, of whom, as will soon appear, great numbers 



TERMITES. 205 

aire necessary. These apartments are joined by the maga- 
zines and nurseries. The magazines are chambers of clay, 
and are at all times well stored with provisions, which, to the 
naked eye, seem to consist of the raspings of wood and plants 
which the termites destroy ; but, when examined by the mi- 
croscope, they are found to consist chiefly of the gums or in- 
spissated juices of plants, thrown together in small irregular 
masses. Of these masses, some are finer than others, and 
resemble the sugar about preserved fruits ; others resemble 
the tears of gum, one being quite transparent, another like 
amber, a third brown, and a fourth perfectly opaque. 

The magazines are always intermixed with the nurseries, 
which last are buildings totally different from the rest of the 
apartments. They are composed entirely of wooden mate- 
rials, which seem to be cemented with gums. Mr. Smeath- 
man very properly gives them the appellation of nurseries: 
because they are invariably occupied by the eggs, and the 
young ones, which first appear in the shape of laborers ; but 
they are as white as snow. These buildings are exceedingly 
compact, and are divided into a number of small, irregularly- 
shaped chambers, not one of which is half an inch wide. 
They are placed all round, and as near as possible to the 
royal apartments. 

When a nest or hillock is in the infant state, the nurseries 
are close to the royal apartment. But as, in process of time, 
the body of the queen enlarges, it becomes necessary, for her 
accommodation, to augment the dimensions of her chamber. 
She then, likewise, lays a greater number of eggs, and re- 
quires more attendants ; of course, it is necessary that both 
the number and dimensions of the adjacent apartments should 
be augmented. For this purpose, the small, first-built nurse- 
ries are taken to pieces, rebuilt a little farther off, made a 
size larger, and their number, at the same time, is increased. 
Thus the animals are continually employed in pulling down, 
repairing, or rebuilding their apartments; and these opera- 
tions they perform with wonderful sagacity, regularity, and 
foresight- 
One remarkable circumstance regarding the nurseries must 
not be omitted. They are always slightly overgrown with a 
kind of mould, and plentifully sprinkled with white globuies 
about the size of a small pin's head. These globules Mr. 
Smeathman at first conjectured to be the eggs ; but when 
examined by the microscope, they evidently appeared to be a 
species of mushroom, in shape resembling our eatable mush- 
18 



206 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

room when young. When entire, they are white like snow a 
little melted and frozen again ; and when bruised, they seem 
to be composed of an infinite number of pellucid particles, 
approaching to oval forms, and are with difficulty separated 
from each other. The mouldiness seems likewise to consist 
of the same kind of substance.* 

The nurseries are inclosed in chambers of clay, like those 
which contain the provisions ; but they are much larger. In 
the early state of the nest, they are not bigger than a hazel- 
nut ; but in great hills, they are often as large as a child's 
head a year old. 

The royal chamber is situated nearly on a level with the 
surface of the ground, at an equal distance from all the sides 
of the building, and directly under the apex of the hill. On 
all sides, both above and below, it is surrounded by what are 
called the royal apartments, which contain only laborers and 
soldiers, who can be intended for no other purpose than to 
continue in the nest either to guard or serve their common 
parents, on whose safety the happiness, and, in the estimation 
of the negroes, the existence of the whole community depends. 
These apartments compose an intricate labyrinth, which ex- 
tends a foot or more in diameter from the royal chamber on 
every side. Here the nurseries and magazines of provisions 
begin ; and, being separated by small empty chambers and 
galleries, which surround them, and communicate with each 
other, are continued on all sides to the outward shell, and 
reach up within it two thirds or three fourths of its height, 
leaving an open area in the middle under the dome, which 
resembles the nave of an old cathedral. This area is sur- 
rounded by large Gothic arches, which are sometimes two or 
three feet high next the front of the area, but diminish rapidly 
as they recede, like the arches of aisles in perspectives, and 
are soon lost among the innumerable chambers and nurseries 
behind them. All these chambers and passages are arched, 
and contribute mutually to support one another. The inte- 
rior building, or assemblage of nurseries, chambers, and pas- 
sages, has a flattish roof, without any perforation. By this 
contrivance, if by accident water should penetrate the ex- 



* Mr. Konig, who examined the termites' nests in the East Indies, conjectures that 
these mushrooms are the food of the young insects. This supposition implies that 
the old ones have a method of providing for and promoting the growth of the mush- 
room ; " a circumstance," Mr. Smeathman remarks, " which, however strange to 
those unacquainted with the sagacity of those insects, I will venture to say, from 
many other extraordinary facts I have seen of them, is not very improbable." 



TERMITES. 207 

ternal dome, the apartments below are preserved from injury. 
The area has also a flattish floor, which is situated above the 
royal chamber. It is likewise water-proof, and so constructed, 
that if water gets admittance, it runs off by subterraneous 
passages, which are of an astonishing magnitude. " I meas- 
ured one of them," says Mr. Smeathman, " which was per- 
fectly cylindrical, and thirteen inches in diameter." These 
subterraneous passages are thickly lined with the same kind 
of clay of which the hill is composed, ascend the internal part 
of the external shell in a spiral form, and, winding round the 
whole building up to the top, intersect and communicate with 
each other at different heights. From every part of these 
large galleries a number of pipes, or smaller galleries, lead- 
ing to different parts of the building, proceed. There are, 
likewise, a great many which lead downward, by sloping de- 
scents, three and four feet perpendicular under ground, among 
the gravel, from which the laboring termites select the finer 
parts, which, after being worked up in their mouths to the 
consistence of mortar, become that solid clay or stone of which 
their hills, and every apartment of their buildings, except the 
nurseries, are composed. Other galleries ascend and lead 
out horizontally on every side, and are carried under ground, 
but near the surface, to great distances. Suppose the whole 
nests within a hundred yards of a house were completely de- 
stroyed, the inhabitants of those at a greater distance will 
carry on their subterraneous galleries, and invade the goods 
and merchandise contained in it by sap and mine, unless 
great attention and circumspection are employed by the pro- 
prietor. 

When a breach is made in one of the hills, the first object 
that attracts attention is the behavior of the soldiers, or 
fighting insects. Immediately after the blow is given, a sol- 
dier comes out, walks about the breach, and seems to examine 
the nature of the enemy, or the cause of the attack. He then 
goes into the hill, gives the alarm, and, in a short time, large 
bodies rush out as fast as the breach will permit. It is not 
easy to describe the fury these fighting insects discover. In 
their eagerness to repel the enemy, they frequently tumble 
down the sides of the hill, but recover themselves very quick- 
ly, and bite every thing they encounter. This biting, joined 
to the striking of their forceps upon the building, makes a 
crackling or vibrating noise, whieh is somewhat shriller and 
quicker than the ticking of a watch, and may be heard at the 
distance of three or four feet, While the attack proceeds, 



208 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

they are in the most violent bustle and agitation. If they get 
hold of any part of a man's body, they instantly make a 
wound, which discharges as much blood as is equal to their 
own weight. When they attack the leg, the stain of blood 
upon the stocking extends more than an inch in width. They 
make their hook jaws meet at the first stroke, and never quit 
their hold, but suffer themselves to be pulled away leg by leg, 
and piece after piece, without the smallest attempt to escape. 
On the other hand, if a person keeps out of their reach, and 
gives them no further disturbance, in less than half an hour 
they retire into their nest, as if they supposed the wonderful 
monster that damaged their castle had fled. Before the 
whole of the soldiers have got in, the laboring insects are all 
in motion, and hasten toward the breach, each of them hav- 
ing a quantity of tempered mortar in his mouth. This mortar 
they stick upon the breach as fast as they arrive, and perform 
the operation with so much despatch and facility, that, not- 
withstanding the immensity of their numbers, they never stop 
or embarrass one another. During this scene of apparent 
hurry and confusion, the spectator is agreeably surprised 
when he perceives a regular wall gradually arising and filling 
up the chasm. While the laborers are thus employed, almost 
all the soldiers remain within, except here and there one, 
who saunters about among six hundred or a thousand labor- 
ers, but never touches the mortar. One soldier, however, 
always takes his station close to the wall that the laborers are 
building. This soldier turns himself leisurely on all sides, 
and, at intervals of a minute or two, raises his head, beats 
upon the building with his forceps, and makes the vibrating 
noise formerly mentioned. A loud hiss instantly issues from 
the inside of the dome and all the subterraneous caverns and 
passages. That this hiss proceeds from the laborers is appa- 
rent ; for at every signal of this kind, they work with redou- 
bled quickness and alacrity. A renewal of the attack, how- 
ever, instantly changes the scene. On the first stroke, the 
laborers run into the many pipes and galleries, with which 
the building is perforated, which they do so quickly, that they 
seem to vanish ; for in a few seconds all are gone, and the 
soldiers rush out as numerous and as vindictive as before. On 
finding no enemy, they return again leisurely into the hill, 
and very soon after the laborers appear, loaded as at first, as 
active, and as sedulous, with soldiers here and there among 
them, who act just in the same manner, one or other of them 
giving the signal to hasten the business. Thus the pleasure 



HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS. 61 

of seeing them come out to fight or to work, alterna 
be obtained as often as curiosity excites, or time perm 
I it will certainly be found, that the one order never ix 
to fight, nor the other to work, let the emergency be v 
great. 

It is exceedingly difficult to explore the interior parts of a 
nest or hill. The apartments which surround the royal cham- 
ber and the nurseries, and, indeed, the whole fabric, have 
such a dependence on each other, that the breaking of one 
arch generally pulls down two or three. There is another 
great obstacle, namely, the obstinacy of the soldiers, who dis- 
pute every inch of ground, and fight to the very last, wound- 
ing severely those who are engaged in the attempt, and 
sometimes obliging them to desist. Besides this, while the 
soldiers are engaged in defending the outworks, the laborers 
are barricading the way within, stopping up the different gal- 
leries and passages which lead to the various apartments, par- 
ticularly the royal chamber, all the entrances to which they 
fill up so artfully as not to let it be distinguishable while it 
remains moist ; and externally it has no other appearance 
than that of a shapeless lump of clay. It may be known, 
however, by its situation, and by the crowd of soldiers and 
laborers who assemble around and within it, to defend or 
perish with it. It is never abandoned, and, when taken out, 
is always found full, the attendants running in one direction 
around the queen with the utmost solicitude, some of them 
stopping at her head, as if to give her something, and others 
taking her eggs away from her and piling them carefully to- 
gether in some part of the chamber. 



CHAPTER IX. 

OF THE HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS. 

In contemplating the system of animation exhibited in this 
planet (the only one of which we have any extensive knowl- 
edge), the mind is struck, and even confounded, with the gen- 
eral scene of havoc and devastation which is perpetually, 
and every where, presented to our view. There is not, per- 
haps, a single species of animated beings, whose existence 
18* 



210 HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS. 

depends not, more or less, upon the death or destruction of 
others. Every animal, when not prematurely deprived of life 
by those who are hostile to it, or by accident, enjoys a tem- 
porary existence, the duration of which is longer or shorter, 
according to its nature, and the rank it holds in the creation 
and this existence universally terminates in death and disso- 
lution. This is an established law of nature, to which every 
animal is obliged to submit. But this necessary and universal 
deprivation of individual life, though great, is nothing when 
compared to the havoc occasioned by another law, which 
impels animals to kill and devour different species, and some- 
times their own. In the system of nature, death and dissolu- 
tion seem to be indispensable for the support and continuation 
of animal life. 

But, though almost every animal, in some measure, depends 
for its existence on the destruction of others, there are some 
species, in all the different tribes or classes, which are distin- 
guished by the appellation of carnivorous or rapacious, be- 
cause they live chiefly, or entirely, on animal food. Tn the 
prosecution of this subject, therefore, we shall, in the first 
place, mention some examples of animal hostility and ra- 
pacity; and, in the next place, endeavor to point out such 
advantages as result from this apparently cruel institution of 
nature. On the last branch of the subject, however, the 
reader must not expect to have every difficulty removed, and 
every question solved. Like all the other parts of the econo- 
my of nature, the necessity, or even the seeming cruelty and 
injustice of allowing animals to prey upon one another, is a 
mystery which we can never be enabled completely to unrav- 
el. But we are not entirely without hopes of showing several 
important utilities which result from this almost universal 
scene of animal devastation. 

Of all rapacious animals, Man is the most universal de- 
stroyer. The destruction of carnivorous quadrupeds, birds, 
and insects, is, in general, limited to particular kinds. But 
the rapacity of man has hardly any limitation. His empire 
over the other animals which inhabit this globe, is almost 
universal. Of some of the quadruped tribes, as the horse, 
the dog, the cat, he makes domestic slaves; and though, in 
this country, none of these species is used for food, he either 
obliges them to labor for him, or keeps them as sources of 
pleasure and amusement. From other quadrupeds, as the ox, 
the sheep, the goat, and the deer kind, he derives innumera- 
ble advantages. The ox kind, in particular, after receiving 



CARNIVOROUS ANIMALS. 211 

the emoluments of their labor and fertility, he rewards with 
death, and then feeds upon their carcasses. Many other 
species, though not commonly used as food, are daily mas- 
sacred in millions for the purposes of commerce, luxury, and 
caprice. Myriads of quadrupeds are annually destroyed for 
the sake of their furs, their hides, their tusks, their odorifer- 
ous secretions, &c. 

Over the feathered tribes the dominion of man is not less 
extensive. There are few species in the numerous and diver- 
sified class of birds, which he either does not, or may not, 
employ for the nourishment of his body. By his sagacity and 
address he has been enabled to domesticate many of the more 
prolific and delicious species, as turkeys, geese, and the vari- 
ous kinds of poultry. These he multiplies without end, and 
devours at pleasure. 

Neither do the inhabitants of the waters escape the rapacity 
of man. Rivers, lakes, and even the ocean itself, feel the 
power of his empire, and are forced to supply him with pro- 
visions. Neither air nor water can defend against the ingenu- 
ity, the art, and the destructive industry of the human species. 
Man may be said even to have domesticated some fishes. In 
artificial ponds, he feeds and rears carp, tench, perch, trout, 
and other species, and with them occasionally furnishes his 
table. 

It might have been expected, that insects and reptiles, some 
of which have a most disgusting aspect, would not have exci- 
ted the human appetite, But we learn from experience, that, 
in every region of the earth, many insects which inhabit both 
the earth and the waters, are esteemed as delicate articles of 
luxury. Even the viper, though its venom be deleterious, 
escapes not the all-devouring jaws of man. 

Thus man holds, and too often exercises, a tyrannical do- 
minion over almost the whole brute creation ; not because 
he is the strongest of all animals, but because his intellect, 
though of a similar nature, is vastly superior to that of the 
most sagacious of the less-favored tribes. He reigns over the 
other animals, because the powers of his mind are more ex- 
tensive. He overcomes force by ingenuity, and swiftness by 
art and persevering industry. But the empire of man over 
the brute creation is not absolute. Some species elude his 
power by the rapidity of their flight, by the swiftness of their 
course, by the obscurity of their retreats, and by the element 
in which they live. Others escape him by the minuteness of 
their bodies ; and, instead of acknowledging their sovereign, 



212 HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS. 

others boldly attack him with open hostility. He is also 
insulted and injured by the stings of insects, and by the 
poisonous bites of serpents. 

In other respects, man's empire, though comparatively great, 
is very much limited. He has no influence on the universe, 
on the motions and affections of the heavenly bodies, or on 
the revolutions of the globe which he inhabits. Neither has 
he a general dominion over animals, vegetables or minerals. 
His power reaches not species, but is confined to individuals. 
Every order of beings moves on in its course, perishes, or is 
renewed by the irresistible power of nature. Even man him- 
self, hurried along by the general torrent of time and of na- 
ture, cannot prolong his existence. He is obliged to submit 
to the universal law; and, like all other organized beings, he 
is born, grows to maturity, and dies. Though man has been 
enabled to subdue the animal creation, by the superior pow- 
ers of his mind, his empire, like all other empires, could not 
be firmly established previous to the institution of pretty 
numerous societies. Almost the whole of his power is de- 
rived from society. It matures his reason, gives exertion to 
his genius, and unites his forces. Before the formation of 
large societies, man was, perhaps, the most helpless and the 
least formidable of all animals. Naked, and destitute of 
arms, to him the earth was only an immense desert, peo- 
pled by strong and rapacious monsters, by whom he was often 
devoured. Even long after this period, history informs us, 
that the first heroes were destroyers of wild beasts. But, 
after the human species had multiplied, and spread over the 
earth, and when, by means of society and the arts, man was 
enabled to conquer a considerable part of the globe, he forced 
the wild beasts gradually to retire to the deserts. He re- 
duced the numbers of the voracious and noxious species. He 
opposed the powers and the dexterity of one animal to those 
of another. Some he subdued by address, and others by 
force. In this manner, he, in process of time, acquired to 
himself perfect security, and established an empire that has 
no other limits than inaccessible solitudes, burning sands, 
frozen mountains, or obscure caverns, which are occupied as 
retreats by a few species of ferocious animals. 

Next to man, the carnivorous quadrupeds are the most nu- 
merous and the most destructive. Different parts of the earth 
are infested with lions, tigers, panthers, ounces, leopards, 
jaguars, cougars, lynxes, wild-cats, dogs, jackals, wolves, 
foxes, hyaenas, civets, genets, polecats, martins, ferrets, 



CARNIVOROUS ANIMALS, 213 

ermines, gluttons, bats, &,c. Though all these, and many other 
tribes of quadrupeds, live solely upon blood and carnage, yet 
some of them, as the tiger, the wolf, the hyaena, and many 
other inferior species, are much more rapacious and destruc- 
tive than others. The lion, though surrounded with prey, 
kills no more than he is able to consume. But the tiger is 
grossly ferocious, and cruel without necessity. Though sa- 
tiated with carnage, he perpetually thirsts for blood. His 
restless fury has no intervals, except when he is obliged to lie 
in ambush for prey at the sides of lakes or rivers, to which 
other animals resort for drink. He seizes and tears in pieces 
a fresh animal with the same rage as he exerted in devouring 
the first. He desolates every country that he inhabits, and 
dreads neither the aspect nor the arms of man. He sacri- 
fices whole flocks of domestic animals, and all the wild beasts 
which come within the reach of his terrible claws. He at- 
tacks the young of the elephant and rhinoceros, and some- 
times even ventures to brave the lion. His predominant 
instinct is a perpetual rage, a blind and undistinguishing fe- 
rocity, which often impel him to devour his own young, and 
to tear their mother in pieces when she attempts to defend 
them. He delights in blood, and gluts himself with it until he 
is intoxicated. He tears the body for no other purpose than 
to plunge his head into it, and to drink large draughts of blood, 
the sources of which are generally exhausted before his thirst 
is appeased. The tiger is, perhaps, the only animal whose 
ferocity is unconquerable. Neither violence, restraint, nor 
bribery, have any effect in softening his temper. With harsh 
or gentle treatment he is equally irritated. The mild and 
conciliating influence of society makes no impression on the 
obduracy and incorrigibleness of his disposition. Time, in- 
stead of softening the ferociousness of his nature, only exas- 
perates his rage. He tears, with equal wrath, the hand which 
feeds him, and that which is raised to strike him. Every 
animated object he regards as fresh prey, menaces it with 
frightful groans, and often springs at it, without regarding his 
chains, which only restrain, but cannot calm his fury. 

In temperate climates, the wolf seems to exceed all other 
animals in the ferocity and rapaciousness of his disposition. 
When pressed with hunger, he braves every danger. He 
attacks all those animals which are under the protection of 
man, especially such as he can carry off with ease, as lambs, 
kids, and the smaller kinds of dogs. When successful in his 
expeditions, he returns often to the charge, till, after being 



214 HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS. 

chased and wounded by men and dogs, he retires during the 
day to his den. In the night, he again issues forth, traverses 
the country, roams round the cottages, kills all the animals 
that have been left without, digs the earth under the doors, 
enters with a terrible, ferocity, and puts every living creature 
to death, before he chooses to depart and carry off his prey. 
When these inroads happen to be fruitless, he returns to the 
woods, searches about with avidity, follows the track and the 
scent of wild beasts, and pursues them till they fall a prey to 
his rapacity. In a word, when his hunger is extreme, he loses 
all idea of fear, attacks women and children, and sometimes 
men ; at last he becomes perfectly furious by excessive exer- 
tions, and generally falls a sacrifice to pure rage and distrac- 
tion. When several wolves appear together, it is not an asso- 
ciation of peace, but of war. It is attended w 7 ith tumult and 
dreadful growlings, and indicates an attack upon some of the 
larger animals, as a stag, an ox, or a formidable mastiff. This 
depredatory expedition is no sooner ended, than they separate, 
and every individual returns in silence to his solitude. Wolves 
are fond of human flesh. They have been known to follow 
armies, to come in troops to the field of battle, where bodies 
are carelessly interred, to tear them up, and devour them with 
an insatiable avidity ; and, when once accustomed to human 
flesh, these wolves ever after attack men, prefer the shepherd 
to the flock, devour women, and carry off children. Whole 
countries are sometimes obliged to arm, in order to destroy 
the wolves. 

Neither are the feathered tribe exempted from the general 
law of devastation. But the number of birds of prey, prop- 
erly so called, is much less in proportion than that of carniv- 
orous quadrupeds. Birds of prey are likewise weaker ; and, 
of course, the destruction of animal life they occasion is 
much more limited than the immense devastations daily com- 
mitted by rapacious quadrupeds. But, as if tyranny never 
lost sight of its rights, great numbers of birds make prodigious 
depredations upon the inhabitants of the waters. A vast tribe 
of birds frequent the waters, and live solely upon fishes. In 
a certain sense, every species of bird may be said to be a bird 
of prey ; for almost the whole of them devour flies, w r orms, 
and other insects, either for food to themselves or their 
young. Birds of prey, like carnivorous quadrupeds, are not 
so prolific as the milder and more inoffensive kinds. Most of 
them lay only a small number of eggs. The great eagle and 
the osprey produce only two eggs in a season, The pigeon. 



BIRDS AND FISHES. 215 

it may be said, lays no more. But it should be ^considered, that 
the pigeon produces two eggs, three, four, or five times, from 
spring to autumn. All birds of prey exhibit an obduracy 
and a ferociousness of disposition, while the other kinds are 
mild, cheerful, and gentle, in their aspect and manners. 
Most birds of prey expel their offspring from the nest, and 
relinquish them to their fate, before they are sufficiently able 
to provide for themselves. This cruelty is the effect of per- 
sonal want in the mother. When prey is scanty, which often 
happens, she in a manner starves herself to support her 
young. But, when her hunger becomes excessive, she forgets 
her parental affection, strikes, expels, and sometimes, in a 
paroxysm of fury produced by want, kills her offspring. An 
aversion to society is another effect of this natural and acquir- 
ed obduracy of temper. Birds of prey, as well as carnivorous 
quadrupeds, never associate. Like robbers, they lead a soli- 
tary and wandering life. Mutual attachment unites the male 
and female ; and, as they are both capable of providing for 
themselves, and can give mutual assistance in making war 
against other animals, they never separate, even after the 
season of love. The same pair are uniformly found in the 
same place ; but they never assemble in flocks, nor even 
associate in families. The larger kinds, as the eagles, require 
a greater quantity of food, and, for that reason, never allow 
their own offspring, after they have become rivals, to ap- 
proach the places where they frequent. But all those birds, 
and all those quadrupeds, which are nourished by the pro- 
ductions of the earth, live in families, are fond of society, and 
assemble in numerous flocks, without quarrelling or disturb- 
ing one another. 

Both the earth and the air furnish examples of rapacious 
animals. In these elements, however, the number of carniv- 
orous animals is comparatively small. But every inhabitant 
of the waters depends for its existence upon rapine and 
destruction. The life of every fish, from the smallest to the 
greatest, is one continued scene of hostility, violence, and 
evasion. Their appetite for food is almost insatiable. It 
impels them to encounter every danger. They are in con- 
tinual motion ; and the object of all their movements is to 
devour other fishes, or to avoid their own destruction. Their 
desire for food is so keen and undistinguishing, that they 
greedily swallow every thing which has the appearance of 
animation. Those that have small mouths, feed upon worms 
and the spawn of other fishes : and those whose mouths are 



216 HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS, 

larger, devour every animal, their own species not excepted, 
that can pass through their gullet. To avoid destruction, 
the smaller fry retire to the shallows, where the larger kinds 
are unable to pursue them. But, in the watery element, no 
situation is absolutely safe ; for, even in the shallows, the 
oyster, the scallop, and the muscle, lie in ambush at the bot- 
tom, with their shells open, and when a small fish comes into 
contact with them, they instantly close their shells upon him, 
and devour at leisure their imprisoned prey. Neither is the 
hunting or pursuit of fishes confined to particular regions. 
Shoals of one species follow, with unwearied ardor, those of 
another, through vast tracts of the ocean. The cod pursues 
the whiting from the banks of Newfoundland to the southern 
coasts of Spain. 

It is a remarkable circumstance in the history of animated 
nature, that carnivorous birds and quadrupeds are less pro- 
lific than the inoffensive and associating kinds ; but, on the 
contrary, that the inhabitants of the waters, who are all car- 
nivorous, are endowed with a most astonishing fecundity. All 
kinds of fishes, a few only excepted, are oviparous. Notwith- 
standing the amazing destruction of their eggs by the smaller 
fry that frequent the shores, by aquatic birds, and by the larger 
fishes, the numbers which escape are sufficient to supply the 
ocean with inhabitants, and to afford nourishment to a very 
great portion of the human race. A cod, for instance, accord- 
ing to the accurate computation of Lewenhoeck, produces, 
from one roe, above nine millions of eggs in a single season. 
The flounder lays annually above one million, and the mack- 
erel more than five hundred thousand ;. an increase so great, 
if permitted to arrive at maturity, that the ocean itself, in a 
few centuries, would not be spacious enough to contain its 
animated productions. This wonderful fertility answers two 
valuable purposes. In the midst of numberless enemies, it 
continues the respective species, and furnishes to all a proper 
quantity of nourishment. 

We have thus seen that man, some quadrupeds, some birds, 
and all fishes, are carnivorous animals. But this system of 
carnage descends still lower. Many of the insect tribes de- 
rive their nourishment from putrid carcasses, from the bodies 
of living animals, or from killing and devouring weaker spe- 
cies. How many flies are daily sacrificed by spiders, a most 
voracious and a most numerous tribe ! In return, spiders are 
greedily devoured by flies, which are distinguished by the 
name of ichneumons. The number of these ichneumon-flies 



INSECTS. 217 

is inconceivable ; and if it were not for the prodigious havoc 
they made upon caterpillars and other insects, the fruits of the 
earth would be entirely destroyed. Wasps are extremely fond 
of animal food. They frequent butchers' stalls, and beat off 
the flesh-fly, and every other insect that resorts thither for the 
purpose of depositing its eggs in the meat. Butchers take 
the advantage of this jealous warfare. They encourage the 
wasps, and make sentinels of them by giving them livers, 
which they prefer to more fibrous flesh* probably because they 
can cut livers more easily with their teeth. 

The libella, dragon, or lady-fly, is well known by the 
beauty of its colors, and the symmetry of its form. For these 
external qualities it has received the appellation of lady-fly. 
Its disposition and its mode of life, however, are more fero- 
cious and warlike than those of the Amazons. Like birds of 
prey, they hover about in the air, for the sole purpose of de- 
vouring almost every species of winged insect. They ac- 
cordingly frequent marshy grounds, pools of water, and the 
margins of rivers, where insects most abound. Their appe- 
tite is so gross and voracious, that they not only devour small 
flies, but even the large flesh-fly, moths, and butterflies of 
every kind. 

It has been often said, that no animal spontaneously feeds 
upon its own species. This remark has probably been in- 
tended as an apology for, or at least a limitation to, the 
general system of carnage established by nature. But the 
observation, whatever might have been its intention, is un- 
happily a result of ignorance ; for some quadrupeds, all fishes, 
and many insects, make no such discrimination* The weak- 
er are uniformly preyed upon by the stronger. Reaumur put 
twenty of those caterpillars which feed upon the leaves of the 
oak into a vial. Though he regularly supplied them with 
plenty of fresh oak leaves, he observed that the number of 
dead ones daily increased. Upon a more attentive examina- 
tion into the cause of this mortality, he found that the strong- 
er attacked with their teeth, killed, sucked out the vitals of 
their weaker companions, and left nothing but the head, feet, 
and empty skins. In a few days, one only of the twenty 
remained in life. 

Caterpillars have myriads of external enemies, as birds of 
almost every kind, many of the smaller quadrupeds, their 
own species, and numberless insects. But this vast source 
of devastation is still augmented by what may be denomi- 
nated their internal enemies. Many flies deposit their eggs 
19 



218 HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS. 

in the bodies of caterpillars. From these eggs proceed small 
maggots, which gradually devour the vitals of the animal in 
which they reside. When about to be transformed into 
chrysalids, they pierce the skin of the caterpillar, spin their 
pods, and remain on the empty skin till they assume the form 
of flies, and escape into the air. Every person must recollect 
to have seen the cole wort, or cabbage caterpillar, stuck upon 
old walls, or the window of country cottages, totally covered 
with these chrysalids, which have the form of small maggots, 
and are of a fine yellow color. One of the most formidable 
enemies of the caterpillar is a black worm, with six crusta- 
ceous legs. It is as long, and thicker than an ordinary-sized 
caterpillar. In the fore part of the head it has two curved 
pincers, with which it quickly pierces the belly of a cater- 
pillar, and never quits the prey till it is entirely devoured. 
The largest caterpillar is not sufficient to nourish this worm 
for a single day ; for it daily kills and eats several of them. 
These gluttonous worms, when gorged with food, become 
inactive and almost motionless. When in this satiated con- 
dition, young worms of the same species attack and devour 
them. Of all trees, the oak, perhaps, nourishes the greatest 
number of different caterpillars, as well as of different insects. 
Amongst others, the oak is inhabited by a large and beautiful 
beetle. This beetle frequents the oaks, probably because 
that tree is inhabited by the greatest number of caterpillars. 
It marches from branch to branch, and, when disposed for 
food, attacks and devours the first caterpillar that comes in 
its way. 

The pucerons, vine-fretters, or plant-lice, are very injurious 
to trees and vegetables of almost every kind. Their species 
are so numerous, and all of them endowed with such a 
wonderful fertility, that we should expect to see the leaves, 
the branches, and the stems of every plant totally covered 
with them. But this astonishing fecundity, and the devasta- 
tion these small insects would unavoidably produce among 
the vegetable tribes, is checked by numberless enemies. 
Myriads of insects of different classes, of different genera, 
and of different species, seem to be produced for no other 
purpose but to devour the pucerons. Some of these insects 
are so voracious, that, notwithstanding the extreme prolific 
powers of the pucerons, we have reason to be surprised that 
their species are not entirely annihilated. On every leaf in- 
habited by the puceron we find worms of different kinds. 
These worms feed not upon the leaves, but upon the pucerons, 



HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS. 219 

whom they devour with an almost incredible rapacity. Some 
of these worms are transformed into flies with two wings, 
others into flies with four wings, and others into beetles. 
While in the worm state, one of these gluttonous insects will 
suck out the vitals of twenty pucerons in a quarter of an hour. 
Reaumur supplied a single worm with more than a hundred 
pucerons, every one of which it devoured in less than three 
hours. 

Beside the general system of carnage produced by the 
necessity of one animal's feeding upon another, a further 
source of destruction is found in the wars which man and 
many other animals wage with their own species. War 
among mankind, in certain accidental situations of society, 
may be productive, to particular nations or communities, of 
beneficial effects. But every advantage derived by war to 
one nation, is acquired at the expense, and either the partial 
or the total ruin, of another. If universal peace could be com- 
pletely established, and if the earth were cultivated to the 
highest perfection, it is not probable that the multiplication 
of the human species would ever rise to such a degree as to 
exceed the quantity of provisions produced by agriculture, 
and by the breeding of domestic animals, necessary for their 
existence and happiness. But as long as men are actuated by 
ambition, by resentment, and by many other hostile passions, 
war and animosity, with all their train of bloodshed and ca- 
lamity, will forever continue to harass and persecute the 
human kind. Let us, however, be humble. We cannot 
unfold the mysteries of Nature ; but we may admire her ope- 
rations, and submit, with a becoming resignation, to her irre- 
sistible decrees. The man, if such a man there be, whose 
strength of mind enables him to observe steadfastly this con- 
duct, is the only real philosopher. 

But man is not the only animal that makes war with his 
own species. Quadrupeds, birds, fishes, insects, independ- 
ently of their appetite for food, occasionally fight and kill 
each other. On this subject we shall confine ourselves to a 
few examples derived from the insect tribes. 

A society or a hive of bees consists of a female, of males or 
drones, and of neuters or working bees. These three kinds 
continue for some time in the most perfect harmony, and 
mutually protect and assist each other. The neuters, or work- 
ing bees, discover the strongest attachment and affection to 
the males, even when in their worm state. The neuters are 
armed with a deadly sting, of which the male is destitute, 



220 HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS, 

Both are equally produced by the same mother, and live in 
the same family. But, notwithstanding their temporary affec- 
tion, there are times when the neuters cruelly massacre the 
males. Among the laws of polished republics, we find some 
which are extremely barbarous. The Lacedemonians were 
allowed to kill such of their children as were produced in a 
defective or maimed state, because they would become a bur- 
den upon the community. The laws of the Chinese permit 
actions equally inhuman. We perhaps know not all the rea- 
sons why the neuter bees treat the males with so much cruelty. 
There is a time, however, when the males become perfectly 
useless to the community ; and it is not incurious to remark 
that the general massacre never commences till this period 
arrives. Whenever a stranger bee enters a hive, his temerity 
is uniformly punished with death. But mortal combats are 
not unfrequent between bees belonging to the same hive. 
These combats are most frequent in clear and warm weather. 
Sometimes two combatants come out of the hive closely fast- 
ened to each other. At other times the attack is made in the 
air. But in whatever way the battle begins, both combatants 
uniformly come to the ground before it is terminated by the 
death of one of the parties. When they reach the ground, 
each individual, like a wrestler, endeavors to gain the most 
advantageous position for stinging his adversary to death. 
Sometimes, though rarely, the sting is left in the wound. If 
this were generally the case, every combat would prove fatal 
to two bees ; for the victor could not long survive the loss of 
his sting. These battles sometimes continue near an hour 
before one of the flies is left expiring on the ground. 

Beside these single combats, general actions are not unfre- 
quent, especially in the swarming season. When two swarms, 
or colonies, happen to contend for the same habitation, a gen- 
eral and bloody engagement immediately ensues. These 
engagements often continue for hours, and never terminate 
without great havoc on both sides. The sting is not the 
only weapon employed in war by bees. They are furnished 
with two strong fangs or teeth, with which they cruelly tear 
each other. Even in general engagements, all the combats 
are single. But when the great slaughter of the males is 
committing, three or four neuters are not ashamed to attack a 
single fly. 

Every wasp's nest, about the beginning of October, exhibits 
a singular and a cruel scene. At this season, the wasps cease 
to bring nourishment to their young. From affectionate moth- 



HOSTILITIES OP ANIMALS. 221 

ers of nurses, they at once become barbarous step -mothers. 
They are worse ; for they drag the young worms from their 
cells, and carry them out of the nest. Being thus exposed to 
the weather, and deprived of nourishment, every one of them 
unavoidably perishes. This devastation is not, like that of 
the honey-bees, confined to the male worms. Here no worm, 
of whatever denomination or sex, escapes the general and 
undistinguished massacre. Besides exposing the worms to 
the weather, the wasps kill them with their fangs. This fact 
seems to be a violation of parental affection, one of the strong- 
est principles in animal nature. But the intentions of Nature, 
though they may often elude our researches, are never wrong. 
What appears to us cruel and unnatural in this instinctive 
devastation committed annually by the wasps, is, perhaps, an 
act of the greatest mercy and compassion. Wasps are not, 
like the honey-bees, endowed with the instinct of laying up a 
store of provisions for winter subsistence. If not prematurely 
destroyed by their parents, the young must necessarily die a 
more cruel and lingering death, occasioned by hunger. Hence 
this seemingly harsh conduct in the economy of wasps, instead 
of affording an exception to the universal benevolence and wis- 
dom of Nature, is, in reality, a merciful institution. Besides, 
as the multiplication of wasps is prodigious, and as they are a 
noxious race both to man and other animals, and especially 
to many tribes of insects, if their increase were not checked 
by such a dreadful carnage, their depredations, in a few years, 
would annihilate other species, break the chain of nature, and 
even prove destructive to man and the larger animals. 

The same instinctive slaughter, and probably for the same 
reasons, is made by the hornets. Towards the end of Octo- 
ber, all the worms and nymphs are dragged out of the nest 
and killed. The neuters and males fall daily victims to the 
cold ; so that, at the end of winter, a few fertile females only 
remain to continue the species. 

According to the adopted plan, we shall finish this subject 
with some observations which may have a tendency to recon 
cile our minds to a system so destructive to individuals of 
every species, that humanity, when not enlightened by a ray 
of philosophy, is apt to revolt, and to brand Nature with 
cruelty and oppression. Nature, it must be confessed, seems 
almost indifferent to individuals, who perish every moment in 
millions, without any apparent compunction. But, with regard 
to species of every description, her uniform and uninterrupted 
attention to the preservation and continuation of the great 
19* 



2"22 HOSTILITIES OP ANIMALS. 

system of animation is conspicuous, and merits admiration 
Life, it should appear, cannot be supported without the inter 
vention of death. Through almost the whole of animated 
nature, as we have seen, nothing but rapine and the destruc- 
tion of individuals prevail. This destruction, however, has 
its use. Every animal, after death, administers life and hap- 
piness to a number of others. In many animals, the powers 
of digestion and of assimilation, are confined to animal sub- 
stances alone. If deprived of animal food, such species, it is 
evident, could not exist. The chief force of this observation, 
it is admitted, is applicable solely to the carnivorous tribes, 
strictly so denominated. But, from the facts formerly enu- 
merated, and from the daily experience of every man, it is 
apparent, that, perhaps, no animal does or can exist totally 
independent of food, that is or has been animated. Sheep, 
oxen, and all herbivorous animals, though not from choice, 
and even without consciousness, daily devour thousands of 
insects. This may be one reason why cattle of all kinds 
fatten so remarkably in rich pastures ; for insects are always 
most numerous where the herbage is luxuriant. Nature is 
so profuse in her animated productions, that no food can be 
eaten, and no fluid can be drunk, in which animal substances, 
either in a living or dead state, are not to be found. 

To this reasoning it may be objected, Why has Nature es- 
tablished a system so cruel ? Why did she render it neces- 
sary that one animal could not live without the destruction of 
another 1 To such questions no answer can be either given 
or expected. No being, except the Supreme, can unfold this 
mystery. Perhaps it even exceeds the limits of possibility to 
establish such an extended system of animation upon any 
other foundation. From the general benevolence of the great 
Creator, we are warranted to conclude that this is really the 
case. But it is fruitless to dwell upon subjects which are 
inscrutable, and far removed beyond the powers of human 
intellect. We shall therefore descend, and endeavor to point 
out some advantages which result from this mysterious insti- 
tution of nature. 

The hostilities of animals give rise to mutual improvement. 
Animals improve, and discover a superiority of parts, in pro- 
portion to the number of enemies they have to attack or 
evade. The weak, and consequently timid, are obliged to 
exert their utmost powers in inventing and practising every 
possible mode of escape. Pure instinct powerfully prompts , 
but much is learned by experience and observation. Rapa- 



HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS* 323 

cious animals, on the contrary, by frequent disappointment, 
are obliged to provide against the cunning and alertness of 
their prey. Herbivorous animals, as they have little difficulty 
in procuring food, are proportionally stupid ; but they would 
be still more stupid if they had no enemies to annoy them* 
Man, if his attention and talents were not excited by the ani- 
mosities of his own species, by the attacks of ferocious 
animals, and even by those of insect tribes, would be an in- 
dolent and incurious, a dirty and an ignorant animal. Those 
of the human race, accordingly, who procure their food with 
little or no industry, as we learn from a multitude of travellers 
and voyagers, are perfectly ignorant and brutishly stupid. 
Timid animals never use the arts of defence, or provide 
against danger, except from three causes, — pure instinct, 
which is implanted in their natures, imitation, and experience. 
By experience, timid animals are taught the arts of evasion. 
Flight is instinctive ; but the modifications of it are acquired 
by imitation and experience. 

Hostilities, in some instances, seem to arise, not from a 
natural antipathy of one species to another, but from a scar- 
city of food. The celebrated Captain Cook informs us, that, 
in Staten Island, birds of prey assemble promiscuously with 
penguins and other birds, without the one offering any injury, 
or the other discovering the smallest symptom of terror. In 
that island, the rapacious birds, perhaps, find plenty of food 
from dead seals, sea-lions, and fishes. 

A profusion of animal life seems to be the general intention 
of nature. For this purpose, when not modified or restrained 
by the industry and intelligence of man, she uniformly covers 
the surface of the earth with trees and vegetables of every 
kind, which supply myriads of animated beings with food. 
But the greatest possible extension of life would still be want- 
ing, if animals did not prey upon each other. If all animals 
were to live on vegetables alone, many species, and millions 
of individuals, which now enjoy life and happiness, could have 
no existence ; for the productions of the earth would not be 
sufficient to support them. But, by making animals feed 
upon each other, the system of animation and of happiness 
is extended to the greatest possible degree. In this view, 
Nature, instead of being cruel and oppressive, is highly gen- 
erous and beneficent. 

To diminish the number of noxious animals, and to aug- 
ment that of useful vegetables, has been the uniform scope of 
human industry. A few species of animals only are of imme- 



224 HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS* 

diate utility to man. These he either cultivates with care% 
or hunts for his prey. The ox, the sheep, the goat, and other 
animals which are under his peculiar protection, he daily uses 
for food. This is not cruelty. He has a right to eat them ; 
for, like Nature, though he occasionally destroys domestic 
animals, a timid and docile race of beings, by his culture and 
protection he gives life and happiness to millions, which, 
without his aid, could have no existence. The number of 
individuals, among animals of this description, if they were 
not cherished and defended by man, would be extremely lim- 
ited ■ for, by the mildness of their dispositions, the compara- 
tive weakness of their arms, and the universal and strong 
appetite for them by rapacious quadrupeds and birds of prey, 
though the species might, perhaps, be continued, the number 
of individuals would of necessity be very small. 

There is a wonderful balance in the system of animal de- 
struction. If the general profusion of the animated produc- 
tions of nature had no other check than the various periods 
to which their lives, when not extinguished by hostilities of 
one kind and another, are limited, the whole would soon be 
annihilated by an universal famine, and the earth, instead of 
every where teeming with animals, would, unless repeopled 
by a new creation, exhibit nothing but a mute, a lifeless, and 
an inactive scene. If even a single species were permitted 
to multiply without disturbance, the food of other species 
would be exhausted, and, of course, a period would be put to 
their existence. The herbivorous and frugivorous races, if 
not restrained by the carnivorous, would soon increase to a 
hurtful degree. Carnivorous animals are the barriers fixed 
by nature to noxious inundations of other kinds. The car- 
nivorous tribes may be compared to the hoe and the pruning- 
hook, which, by diminishing the number of plants when too 
close, or lopping off their luxuriances, make the others grow 
to greater perfection. To these swarms of insects, which 
cover the surface of the earth, are opposed an army of birds — 
an active, a vigilant, and a voracious race. Hares, rabbits, 
mice, rats, are exposed to the depredations of carnivorous quad- 
rupeds and birds. The larger cattle, as the ox, the deer, the 
sheep, &,c, are not exempted from enemies; and man, by 
the superiority of his mental powers, checks the multiplica- 
tion of the carnivorous tribes, and maintains the balance and 
empire of the animal system. Those species which are en- 
dowed with uncommon fertility, have the greatest number of 
enemies. The caterpillar, the puceron, and insects in gene- 



HOSTILITIES OP ANIMALS. 225 

ral, one of the most prolific classes of animals, are attacked 
and devoured by numerous hostile bands. No species, how- 
ever, is ever exhausted. The balance between gain and loss 
is perpetually preserved. The earth, the seas, the atmosphere, 
may be considered as an immense and variegated pasture. In 
this view it is most judiciously cultivated and stocked by the 
numerous animated beings which it is destined to support 
Every animal and every vegetable furnish subsistence to par- 
ticular species. Thus, nothing of value is lost ; and every 
species is abundantly supplied with food. 

That the general balance of animation is constantly pre- 
served, we learn from daily experience. The reader, how- 
ever, I presume, will not be displeased to have some examples 
of the modes employed by nature to accomplish this effect, 
suggested to him. 

After an inundation of the Nile, the lower parts of Egypt 
are greatly infested with serpents, frogs, mice, and other ver- 
min. At that period, the storks resort thither in immense 
multitudes, and devour the serpents, frogs, and mice, which, 
without this dreadful carnage, would be highly noxious to the 
inhabitants. Belon, a most ingenious and faithful French 
naturalist, remarks, that in many places the land could not be 
inhabited, if the storks did not destroy the amazing numbers 
of mice which frequently appear in Palestine, and other parts 
of the East bordering upon Egypt. The Egyptian vulture, 
says Hasselquist, is of singular benefit to that country. It 
eats up all the dung and offals in the towns, and the carcass- 
es of camels, horses, asses, &c, in the fields, which, if not 
quickly devoured, would, in that warm climate, by their pu- 
trescency, be productive of disease and death to the inhab- 
itants. Putrid carcasses, in all countries, are both offensive 
to the nostrils and hurtful to health. But Nature, by various 
instruments, soon removes the evil. An animal no sooner 
dies, than, in a very short time, he is consumed by bears, 
wolves, foxes, dogs, and ravens. In situations where these 
animals dare not approach, as in the vicinity of towns and vil- 
lages, a dead horse, in a few days, is devoured by myriads of 
maggots. In the uncultivated parts of America, serpents and 
snakes of different kinds abound. After it was discovered 
that swine greedily devoured serpents, hogs were uniformly 
kept by all new settlers. Caterpillars are destructive to the 
leaves and fruits of plants. Their numbers and varieties are 
immense. But their devastations are checked by many ene- 
mies. Without a profusion of caterpillars, most of the smaller 



22G HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS, 

birds, especially when young, could not be supported. By 
devouring the caterpillars, these birds preserve the fruits of 
the earth from total destruction. 

Shell-fishes are extremely prolific, and so strongly fortified 
by nature, that their increase, one would imagine, would soon 
augment to a degree that might be hurtful to other species. 
Their noxious multiplication, however, is checked by num- 
berless enemies. But their most destructive enemy is the 
trochus, which is a kind of sea-snail. This animal is furnish- 
ed with a strong, muscular, hollow trunk, bordered at the 
extremity with a cartilage tooth like a saw. Against this 
instrument, which acts like an auger, no shell, however hard 
or thick, is a sufficient defence. These animals, called trochi, 
fix themselves upon an oyster or a muscle, bore through the 
shell with their trunk, and devour their prey at their leisure. 
The animal attacked, if a bivalve, may open or shut its shell ; 
but no efforts of this kind can be of any avail; for the trochus 
remains immovably fixed, till it has completely sucked out the 
vitals of its prey. In this cruel occupation, the trochus often 
continues for days, and even weeks, before the life of the 
animal attacked is fully extinguished. The operation of the 
trochus may be seen in the shells of many oysters, muscles, 
and other shell-fishes ; for their shells are often pierced with 
a number of circular holes. 

The amazing strength of the whale, one would imagine, 
would secure it from the insults of every other animal. But, 
besides the annual depredations made by man upon the ceta- 
ceous tribes, they are often attacked and killed by the sword- 
fish. The snout of this comparatively small animal is armed 
with a long, hard projection of bone, each edge of which is 
furnished with a number of strong, flat, and sharp points, or 
teeth, some of which, especially near the snout, are an inch 
and a half in length. With this instrument the sword-fish 
boldly attacks the whale. The whale has no other defence 
but its tail, with which it endeavors to strike its antagonist. 
But, as the sword-fish is more active and nimble than the 
whale, he easily parries the blow by springing into the air, 
and renewing the attack with his saw-like instrument. When- 
ever he succeeds, the sea is dyed red with the blood issuing 
from the wound. The fury of the whale appears from the 
vehemence with which it lashes the waters, each stroke 
resounding like the report of a cannon. 

Upon the whole, every animated being that inhabits this 
globe seems to be destined by Nature, not for his own individual 



ARTIFICES OP ANIMALS. 227 

existence and happiness alone, but likewise fo/ the existence 
and happiness of other animated beings. A circle of anima- 
tion and of destruction goes perpetually round. This is the 
economy of nature. Different species of animals live by the 
mutual destruction of each other. Even among individual 
men, the strong too often oppress the weak ; but on the other 
hand, the wise instruct the ignorant. These are the bonds 
of society, and the sources of improvement. 



CHAPTER X. 

OF THE ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 

Many instances of the dexterity and artifices of different 
animals, in various parts of their manners and economy, have 
been occasionally mentioned in several of the foregoing chap- 
ters. This circumstance, to avoid repetitions, will necessarily 
render the present chapter proportionally short. The arti- 
fices practised by animals proceed from several motives, many 
of which are purely instinctive, and others are acquired by 
experience and imitation. Upon this subject we shall, as 
usual, give some examples, which may both amuse and inform 
the reader. 

When a bear, or other rapacious animal, attacks cattle, 
they instantly join and form a phalanx for mutual defence. 
In the same circumstances, horses rank up in lines, and beat 
off the enemy with their heels. Pontoppidan tells us, that 
the small Norwegian horses, when attacked by bears, instead 
of striking with their hind legs, rear, and, by quick and re- 
peated strokes with their fore feet, either kill the enemy, or 
oblige him to retire. This curious, and generally successful 
defence, is frequently performed in the woods, while a traveller 
is sitting on the horse's back. It has often been remarked, 
that troops of wild horses, whether sleeping either in plains 
or in the forest, have always one of their number awake, 
who acts as a sentinel, and gives notice of any approaching 
danger. 

Margraaf informs us, that the monkeys in Brazil, while 
they are sleeping on the trees, have uniformly a sentinel to 
warn them of the approach of the tiger or other rapacious 



228 ARTIFICER OF ANIMALS, 

animals; an J that, if ever this sentinel is found sleeping, his 
companions instantly tear him in pieces for his neglect of duty 
For the same purpose, when a troop of monkeys are commit- 
ting depredations on the fruits of a garden, a sentinel is placed 
on an eminence, who, when any person appears, makes a 
certain chattering noise, which the rest understand to be a sig- 
nal for retreat, and immediately fly off and make their escape. 

The deer kind are remarkable for the arts they employ in 
order to deceive the dogs. With this view the stag often re- 
turns twice or thrice upon his former steps. He endeavors 
to raise hinds or younger stags to follow him, and draw off 
the dogs from the immediate object of their pursuit. If he 
succeeds in this attempt, he then flies off with redoubled 
speed, or springs off at a side, and lies down on his belly to 
conceal himself. When in this situation, if by any means his 
foot is recovered by the dogs, they pursue him with more ad- 
vantage, because he is now considerably fatigued. Their 
ardor increases in proportion to his feebleness ; and the scent 
becomes stronger as he grows warm. From these circum- 
stances the dogs augment their cries and their speed ; and, 
though the stag employs more arts of escape than formerly, 
as his swiftness is diminished, his doublings and artifices be- 
come gradually less effectual. No other resource is now left 
him but to fly from the earth which he treads, and go into the 
waters, in order to cut off the scent from the dogs, when the 
huntsmen again endeavor to put them on the track of his 
foot. After taking to the water, the stag is so much exhausted 
that he is incapable of running much farther, and is soon at 
bay, or, in other words, turns and defends himself against 
the hounds. In this situation he often wounds the dogs, and 
even the huntsmen, by blows with the horns, till one of them 
cuts his hams to make him fall, and then puts a period to 
his life. 

The fallow-deer is more delicate, less savage, and ap- 
proaches nearer to the domestic state than the stag. They 
associate in herds, which generally keep together. When 
great numbers are assembled in one park, they commonly 
form themselves into two distinct troops, which soon become 
hostile, because they are both ambitious of possessing the 
same part of the inclosure. Each of these troops has its own 
chief or leader, who always marches foremost, and he is uni- 
formly the oldest and strongest of the flock. The others fol- 
low him ; and the whole draw up in order of battle, to force 
the other troop, who observe the same conduct, from the best 



ARTIFICES OP ANIMALS. 



229 



pasture, The regularity with which these combats are con- 
ducted is singular. They make regular attacks, fight with 
courage, and never think themselves vanquished by one check ; 
for the battle is daily renewed, till the weaker are completely 
defeated, and obliged to remain in the worst pasture. They 
love elevated and hilly countries. When hunted, they run 
not straight out, like the stag, but double, and endeavor to 
conceal themselves from the dogs by various artifices, and by 
substituting other animals in their place. When fatigued and 
heated, however, they take the water, but never attempt to 
cross such large rivers as the stag. Thus, between the chase 
of the fallow-deer and of the stag, there is no material dif- 
ference. Their sagacity and instincts, their shifts and dou- 
blings, are the same, only they are more frequently practised 
by the fallow-deer. As he runs not so far before the dogs, 
and is less enterprising, he has oftener occasion to change, to 
substitute another in his place, to double, return upon his 
former tracks, &c, which renders the hunting of the fallow- 
deer more subject to inconveniences than that of the stag. 

The roe-deer is inferior to the stag and fallow-deer, both in 
strength and stature ; but he is endowed with more graceful- 
ness, courage, and vivacity. His eyes are more brilliant and 
animated. His limbs are more nimble ; his movements are 
quicker, and he bounds with equal vigor and agility. He is, 
likewise, more crafty, conceals himself with greater address, 
and derives superior resources from his instincts. Though 
he leaves behind him a stronger scent than the stag, which 
increases the ardor of the dogs, he knows how to evade their 
pursuit, by the rapidity with which he commences his flight, 
and by numerous doublings. He delays not his arts of de- 
fence till his strength begins to fail him ; for he no sooner 
perceives that the efforts of a rapid flight have been unsuc- 
cessful, than he repeatedly returns upon his former steps ; and 
after confounding, by these opposite motions, the direction 
he has taken, after intermixing the present with the past 
emanations of his body, he, by a great bound, rises from the 
earth, and, retiring to a side, lies down flat upon his belly. 
In this immovable situation, he often allows the whole pack 
of his deceived enemies to pass very near him. The roe-deer 
differs from the stag in disposition, manners, and in almost 
every natural habit. Instead of associating in herds, they 
live in separate families. The two parents and the young go 
together, and never mingle with strangers. The females com- 
monly produce two fawns, the one a male and the other a 
20 



230 ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 

female. These young animals, who are brought up and nour- 
ished together, acquire a mutual affection so strong, that they 
never depart from each other. In a week or two after birth, 
the fawns are able to follow their mother. When threatened 
with danger, she hides them in a close thicket ; and, so strong 
is her parental affection, that, in order to preserve her offspring 
from destruction, she presents herself to be chased. 

Hares possess not, like rabbits, the art of digging retreats 
in the earth. But they neither want instinct sufficient for 
their own preservation, nor sagacity for escaping their ene- 
mies. They form seats or nests on the surface of the ground, 
where they watch, with the most vigilant attention, the ap- 
proach of any danger. In order to deceive, they conceal 
themselves between clods of the same color with their own 
hair. When pursued, they first run with rapidity, and then 
double or return upon their former steps. From the place 
of starting, the females run not so far as the males ; but 
they double more frequently. Hares hunted in the place 
where they are brought forth, seldom remove to a great dis- 
tance from it, but return to their form ; and when chased two 
days successively, on the second day they perform the same 
doublings they had practised the day before. When hares 
run straight out to a great distance, it is a proof that they are 
strangers. " I have seen a hare," Fouilloux remarks, " so 
sagacious, that, after hearing the hunter's horn, he started 
from his form, and though at the distance of a quarter of a 
league, went to swim in a pool, and lay down on the rushes 
in the middle of it, without being chased by the dogs. I have 
seen a hare, after running two hours before the dogs, push 
another from his seat, and take possession of it. I have seen 
others swim over two or three ponds, the narrowest of which 
was eighty paces broad. I have seen others, after a two 
hours' chase, run into a sheepfold, and lie down among them. 
I have seen others, when hard pushed, run in among a flock 
of sheep, and would not leave them. I have seen others, 
after hearing the noise of the hounds, conceal themselves in 
the earth. I have seen others run up one side of a hedge, 
and return by the other, when there was nothing else between 
them and the dogs. I have seen others, after running half an 
hour, mount an old wall six feet high, and clap down in a hole 
covered with ivy. Lastly, I have seen others swim over a 
river, of about eighty paces broad, oftener than twice, in the 
length of two hundred paces." 

The fox has, in all ages and nations, been celebrated for 



ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 231 

craftiness and address. Acute and circumspect, sagacious 
and prudent, he diversifies his conduct, and always reserves 
some art for unforeseen accidents. Though nimbler than the 
wolf, he trusts not entirely to the swiftness of his course. He 
knows how to ensure safety, by providing himself with an 
asylum, to which he retires when danger appears. He is not 
a vagabond, but lives in a settled habitation, and in a domes- 
tic state. The choice of situation, the art of making and 
rendering a house commodious, and of concealing the avenues 
which lead to it, imply a superior degree of sentiment and 
reflection. The fox possesses these qualities, and employs 
them with dexterity and advantage. He takes up his abode 
on the border of a wood, and in the neighborhood of cot- 
tages. Here he listens to the crowing of the cocks and the 
noise of the poultry. He scents them at a distance. He 
chooses his time with great judgment and discretion. He 
conceals both his route and his design. He moves forward 
with caution, sometimes even trailing his body, and seldom 
makes a fruitless expedition. When he leaps the wall, or gets 
in underneath it, he ravages the court-yard, puts all the fowls 
to death, and then retires quietly with his prey, which he 
either conceals under the herbage, or carries off to his kennel. 
In a short time he returns for another, which he carries off in 
the same manner, but to a different place. In this manner 
he proceeds, till the light of the sun, or some movements 
perceived in the house, admonish him that it is time to retire 
to his den. He does much mischief to the bird-catchers 
Early in the morning he visits their nets and their birdlime, 
and carries off successively all the birds that happen to be 
entangled. The young hares he hunts in the plains, seizes 
old ones in their seats, digs out the rabbits in the warrens, 
finds out the nests of partridges, quails, &c, seizes the mothers 
on the eggs, and destroys a prodigious number of game. 
Dogs of all kinds spontaneously hunt the fox. Though his 
odor be strong, they often prefer him to the stag or the hare. 
When pursued, he runs to his hole; and it is not uncommon 
to send in terriers to detain him till the hunters remove the 
earth above, and either kill or seize him alive. The most 
certain method, however, of destroying a fox is to begin with 
shutting up the hole, to station a man with a gun near the 
entrance, and then to search about with the dogs. When 
they fall in with him, he immediately makes for his hole. But, 
when he comes up to it, he is met with a discharge from the 
gun, If the shot misses him, he flies off full speed, takes a 



232 ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS, 

wide circuit, and returns to the hole, where he is fired upon 
a second time; but, when he discovers that the entrance is 
shut, he darts away straight forward, with the intention of 
never revisiting his former habitation. He is next pursued 
by the hounds, whom he seldom fails to fatigue ; because, 
with much cunning, he passes through the thickest part of 
the forest, or places of the most difficult access, where the 
dogs are hardly able to follow him ; and, when he takes to the 
plains he runs straight out, without either stopping or dou- 
bling. But the most effectual way of destroying foxes is to 
lay snares baited with live pigeons, fowls, &c. The fox is 
an exceedingly voracious animal. Besides all kinds of flesh 
and fishes, he devours, with equal avidity, eggs, milk, cheese, 
fruits, and particularly grapes. He is so extremely fond of 
honey, that he attacks the nests of wild bees. They at first 
put him to flight by numberless stings ; but he retires for the 
sole purpose of rolling himself on the ground, and of crushing 
the bees. He returns to the charge so often, that he obliges 
them to abandon the hive, which he soon uncovers, and de- 
vours both the honey and the wax. 

When the female perceives that her retreat is discovered, 
and that her young have been disturbed, she carries them off, 
one by one, into a new habitation. The fox sleeps in around 
form, like the dog; but, when he only reposes himself, he lies 
on his belly, with his hind legs extended. It is in this situa- 
tion that he eyes the birds on the hedges and trees. The 
birds have such an antipathy against him, that they no sooner 
perceive him than they send forth shrill cries to advertise 
their neighbors of the enemy's approach. The jays and 
blackbirds, in particular, follow the fox from tree to tree, 
sometimes two or three hundred paces, often repeating the 
watch-cries. The Count de BufTon kept two young foxes, 
which, when at liberty, attacked the poultry ; but after they 
were chained, they never attempted to touch a single fowl. A 
living hen was then placed near them for whole nights ; and, 
though destitute of victuals for many hours, in spite of hunger 
and opportunity, they never forgot that they were chained, 
and gave the hen no disturbance. 

In Eamtschatka, the animals called gluttons employ a sin- 
gular stratagem for killing the fallow-deer. They climb up 
a tree, and carry with them a quantity of that species of moss 
of which the deer are very fond. When a deer approaches 
near the tree, the glutton throws down the moss. If the deer 
stops to eat the moss, the glutton instantly darts upon his 



ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 



233 



back, and, after fixing himself firmly between the horns, tears 
out his eyes, which torments the animal to ^uch a degree, 
that, whether to put an end to its torments, or to get rid of its 
cruel enemy, it strikes its head against the tree till it falls 
down dead. The glutton divides the flesh of the deer into 
convenient portions, and conceals them in the earth to serve 
for future provisions. The gluttons on the river Lena kill 
horses in the same manner. 

There are several species of rats in Kamtschatka. The 
most remarkable kind is called tegulchitch by the natives. 
These rats make neat and spacious nests under ground ; 
they are lined with turf, and divided into different apartments, 
in which the rats deposit stores of provisions for supporting 
them during the winter. It is worthy of remark, that the 
rats of this country never touch the provisions laid up for the 
winter, except when they cannot procure nourishment any 
where else. These rats, like the Tartars, change their 
habitations. Sometimes they totally abandon Kamtschatka 
for several years, and their retreat greatly alarms the inhab- 
itants, which they consider as a presage of a rainy season, 
and of a bad year for hunting. The return of these animals 
is, of course, looked upon as a good omen. Whenever they 
appear, the happy news is soon spread over all parts of the 
country. They always take their departure in the spring, 
when they assemble in prodigious numbers, and traverse 
rivers, lakes, and even arms of the sea. After they have made 
a long voyage, they frequently lie motionless on the shore, 
as if they were dead. When they recover their strength, 
they recommence their march. The inhabitants of Kamt- 
schatka are very solicitous for the preservation of these ani- 
mals. They never do the rats any injury, but give them every 
assistance when they lie weakened and extended on the 
ground. They generally return to Kamtschatka about the 
month of October ; and they are sometimes met with in such 
prodigious numbers, that travellers are obliged to stop two 
hours till the whole troop passes. The tract of ground they 
travel in a single summer is not less wonderful than the regu- 
larity they observe in their march, and that instinctive im- 
pulse which enables them to foresee, with certainty, the 
changes of times and of seasons. 

With regard to birds, their artifices are not less numerous 

nor less surprising than those of quadrupeds. The eagle and 

hawk kinds are remarkable for the sharpness of their sight, 

and the arts they employ in catching their prey. Their 

20* 



234 



ARTIFICES OP ANIMALS. 



movements are rapid or slow, according to their intentions, 
and the situation of the animals they wish to devour. Rapa- 
cious birds uniformly endeavor to rise higher in the air than 
their prey, that they may have an opportunity of darting 
forcibly down upon it with their pounces. To counteract 
these artifices, nature has endowed the smaller and more 
innocent species of birds with many arts of defence. When 
a hawk appears, the small birds, if they find it convenient, 
conceal themselves in hedges or brush-wood. When deprived 
of this opportunity, they often, in great numbers, seem to fol- 
low the hawk, and to expose themselves unnecessarily to 
danger, while in fact, by their numbers, their perpetual 
changes of direction, and their uniform endeavors to rise 
above him, they perplex the hawk to such a degree, that he 
is unable to fix upon a single object; and, after exerting all 
his art and address, he is frequently obliged to relinquish the 
pursuit. When in the extremity of danger, and after employ- 
ing every other artifice in vain, small birds have been often 
known to fly to men for protection. This is a plain indica- 
tion that these animals, though they in general avoid the hu- 
man race, are by no means so much afraid of man as of rapa- 
cious birds. 

The ravens often frequent the sea-shores in quest of food. 
When they find their inability to break the shells of rnuscles, 
&c, to accomplish this purpose they use a very ingenious 
stratagem. They carry a muscle, or other shell-fish, high up 
in the air, and then dash it down upon a rock, by which 
means the shell is broken, and they obtain the end they had 
in view. 

The woodpecker is furnished with a very long and flexible 
tongue. It feeds upon ants and other small insects. Nature 
has endowed this bird with a singular instinct. It knows how 
to procure food without seeing its prey. It attaches itself to 
the trunks or branches of decayed trees ; and, wherever it 
perceives a hole or crevice, it darts in its long tongue, and 
brings it out loaded with insects of different kinds. This op- 
eration is certainly instinctive ; but the instinct is assisted by 
the instruction of the parents ; for the young are no sooner 
able to fly, than the parents, by the force of example, teach 
them to resort to trees, and to insert their tongues indiscrimi- 
nately into every hole or fissure. 

' A small bird of the hawk kind, called the nine-killer, has 
been observed at particular seasons of the year to catch grass- 
hoppers, beetles, or other insects, kill them and stick them 



ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 235 

in a position entirely natural, upon the branches of trees or 
bushes, so that they appear, at first sight, as if alive. It is a 
common opinion where this bird is found, that it thus destroys 
nine insects every day, and hence its name ; but as it is known 
not to feed upon insects itself, but principally upon small 
quadrupeds and birds, the object of this expedient is not per- 
fectly obvious. Some have supposed that it was done merely 
for amusement. The most probable explanation, however, is 
that the insects are intended by this little hawk as a decoy 
for the birds which it designs for its prey. This manoeuvre 
is put in practice in the fall of the year, just before the severe 
frosts begin, which by killing the insects deprive the smaller 
birds of the food on which they have been accustomed to 
subsist. They are of course, in the season of scarcity, led to 
the bait their sagacious enemy has provided, and thus become 
an easy prey.' 

Of the economy of the inhabitants of the water, as for- 
merly remarked, our knowledge is extremely limited. But, 
as the ocean exhibits a perpetual and general scene of attack 
and defence, the arts of assault and of evasion must, of course, 
be exceedingly various. For the preservation of some spe- 
cies of fishes, nature has armed them with strong and sharp 
pikes. Others, as the perch kind, are defended with strong, 
bony rays in their fins. Others, as the univalve shell-fish, 
retire into their shells upon the approach of danger. The 
bivalves and multivalves, when attacked, instantly shut their 
shells, which, in general, is a sufficient protection to them. 
Some univalves, as the limpet kind, attach themselves so 
firmly, by excluding the air, to rocks and stones, that, unless 
quickly surprised, no force inferior to that of breaking the 
shell can remove them. The flying-fish, when pursued, darts 
out of the water, and takes refuge in the air, in which it is 
for some time supported by the operation of its large and 
pliable fins. The torpedo is furnished with a remarkable 
apparatus for self-preservation. It repels every hostile at- 
tempt by an electrical stroke, which confounds and intimi- 
dates its enemies. Several fishes, and particularly the salmon 
kind, when about to generate, leave the ocean, ascend the 
rivers, deposit their eggs in the sand, and, after making a 
proper nidus for their future progeny, return to the ocean 
from whence they came. Others, as the herring kind, though 
they seldom go up rivers, assemble in myriads from all quar- 
ters, and approach the shores, or ascend arms of the sea, for 
the purpose of continuing the species, and cherishing their 



236 ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 

offspring. When that operation is performed, they leave the 
coasts and disperse in the ocean, till the same instinctive 
impulse forces them to observe similar conduct the next sea- 
son. This migration of salmons, herrings, and many other 
fishes, from the ocean to the rivers or shores, is of infinite ad* 
vantage to mankind. It is upon their passage that such 
immense numbers are taken to be used as food, and thus be- 
come an important article of commerce. 

The insect tribes, though comparatively diminutive, are not 
deficient in artifice and address. With much art the spider 
spins his web. It serves him the double purpose of a habita- 
tion, and of a machine for catching his food. With incredi- 
ble patience and perseverance he lies in the centre of his 
web for days, and sometimes for weeks, before an ill-fated fly 
happens to be entangled. One species of spider, which is 
small, of a blackish color, and frequents cottages or out-houses, 
I have known to live, during the whole winter months, almost 
without the possibility of receiving any nourishment; for, 
during that period, not a fly of any kind could be discovered 
in the apartment. If they had been in a torpid state, like 
some other animals, the wonder of their surviving the want 
of food so long would not have been so great. But in the 
severest weather, and through the whole course of the winter, 
they were perfectly active and lively. Neither did they seem 
to be in the least emaciated. 

The formica-leo, or ant-lion, is a small insect, somewhat 
resembling a wood-louse, but larger. Its head is flat, and 
armed with two fine movable crotchets, or pincers. It has 
six legs, and its body, which terminates in a point, is composed 
of a number of membranous rings. In the sand or in finely- 
pulverized earth, this animal digs a hole in the form of a 
funnel, at the bottom of which it lies in ambush for its prey. 
As it always walks backward, it cannot pursue any insect. 
To supply this defect, it lays a snare for them, and especially 
for the ant, which is its favorite food. It generally lies con- 
cealed under the sand in the bottom of its funnel or trap, and 
seldom exhibits more than the top of its head. In digging a 
funnel, the formica-leo begins with tracing a circular furrow 
in the sand, the circumference of which determines the size 
of the funnel, which is often an inch deep. After the first 
furrow is made, the animal traces a second, which is always 
concentric with the first. It throws out the sand, as with a 
shovel, from the successive furrows or circles, by means of 
its square, flat head, and one of its fore legs. It proceeds in 



ARTIFICES OP ANIMALS. 237 

this manner till it has completed its funnel, which it does with 
surprising promptitude and address. At the* bottom of this 
artful snare it lies concealed and immovable. When an ant 
happens to make too near an approach to the margin of the 
funnel, the sides of which are very steep, the fine sand gives 
way, and the unwary animal tumbles down to the bottom. 
The formica-leo instantly kills the ant, buries it under the 
sand, and sucks out its vitals. It afterwards pushes out the 
empty skin, repairs the disorder introduced into its snare, and 
again lies in ambush for a fresh prey. 

We formerly took some notice of that species of spider 
which carries her eggs in a bag attached to her belly. A 
spider of this kind was thrown into the funnel of a formica- 
leo. The latter instantly seized the bag of eggs, and endeav- 
ored to drag it under the sand. The spider, from a strong 
love of offspring, allowed its own body to be carried along 
with the bag. But the slender silk by which it was fixed to 
the animal's belly broke, and a separation took place. The 
spider immediately seized the bag with her pincers, and ex- 
erted all her efforts to regain the object of her affections. 
But these efforts were ineffectual ; for the formica-leo gradu- 
ally sunk the bag deeper and deeper in the sand. The 
spider, however, rather than quit her hold, allowed herself to 
be buried alive. In a short time, the observer removed the 
sand, and took out the spider. She was perfectly unhurt; 
for the formica-leo had not made an attack upon her. But, 
so strong was her attachment to her eggs, that, though fre- 
quently touched with a twig, she would not relinquish the 
place which contained them. 

When arrived at its full growth, the formica-leo gives up 
the business of an ensnaring hunter. He deserts his former 
habitation, and crawls about for some time on the surface of 
the earth. He at last retires under the ground, spins a round 
silken pod, and is soon transformed into a fly. 



238 SOCIETY OF ANIMALS, 



CHAPTER XI. 

OF THE SOCIETY OF ANIMALS. 

The associating principle, from which so many advantages 
are derived, is not confined to the human species, but extends, 
in some instances, to every class of animals. 

It is remarked, by Button and some other authors, that the 
state of nature, which had long occupied the attention and 
researches of philosophers, was rejected by them after the 
discovery was made. In the estimation of the authors alluded 
to, the savage state is the state of nature. The first natural 
condition of mankind is the union of a male and female. 
These produce a family, who, from necessity, or, in other 
words, from parental and filial affection, continue together, 
and assist each other in procuring food and shelter. This 
family, like most families in established civil societies, feel 
their own weakness, and their inability to supply their wants 
without more powerful resources than their feeble exertions. 
When this wandering and defenceless family accidentally 
meet with another family in the same condition, nature, it is 
said, teaches them to unite for mutual support and protec- 
tion. The association of two families may be considered as 
the first formation of a tribe or nation. When a number 
of tribes happen to unite, they only become a larger or more 
numerous nation. A single pair, it is true, if placed in a situ- 
ation where plenty of food could be procured without much 
labor, might, in a succession of ages, produce any indefinite 
number. This is precisely the situation in which Moses has 
placed our first parents. He has added another circumstance 
highly favorable to a speedy population. Instead of the pres- 
ent brevity of human life, he informs us, that men, in the 
first periods of the world, lived and propagated several hun- 
dred years. 

In countries thinly peopled with savages, it is extremely 
probable, that societies are formed by the gradual union of 
families and tribes. The increase of power arising from 
mutual assistance, and a thousand other comfortable circum- 
stances, soon contribute to cement more firmly the associated 
members. Some of the arts of life, beside that of hunting, 
are occasionally discovered either by accident or by the 
ingenuity of individuals. In this manner, gradual advances 



SOCIETY OP ANIMALS. 239 

are made from the savage to the civilized condition of man- 
kind. This is a very short view of the origin of society, which 
has been adopted by most authors, both ancient and modern, 
though many of them have derived the associating principle 
from very different, and even from opposite causes, which it 
is no part of our plan either to enumerate or to refute. Some 
writers, as Aristotle, and a few moderns, implicit followers of 
his opinions, deny that man is naturally a gregarious or asso- 
ciating animal. To render this notion consistent with the 
actual and universal state of the human race, these authors 
have had recourse to puerile conceits, and to questionable 
facts, which it would be fruitless to relate. Other writers, 
possessed of greater judgment and discernment, and less 
warped with vanity and hypothetical phantoms, have derived 
the origin of society from its real and only source, Nature 
herself. 

That the associating principle is instinctive hardly requires 
a proof. An appeal to the feelings of any human being, and 
to the universal condition of mankind, is sufficient. These 
feelings, it may be said, are acquired by education and habit. 
By these causes, it is true, our social feelings are strengthened 
and confirmed ; but their origin is coeval with the existence 
of the first human mind. Let any man attend to the eyes, 
the features, and the gestures of a child upon the breast 
when another child is presented to it ; both instantly, previ- 
ous to the possibility of instruction or habit, exhibit the most 
evident expressions of joy. Their eyes sparkle, their features 
and gestures demonstrate, in the most unequivocal manner, a 
mutual attachment, and a strong desire of approaching each 
other, not with a hostile intention, but with an ardent affec- 
tion, which, in that pure and uncontaminated state of our be- 
ing, does honor to human nature. When farther advanced, 
children who are strangers to each other, though their social 
appetite is equally strong, discover a mutual shyness of ap- 
proach. This shyness, or modesty, however, is soon conquer- 
ed by the more powerful instinct of association. They daily 
mingle and sport together. Their natural affections, which, 
at that period, are strong, and unbiased by those selfish and 
vicious motives which too often conceal and thwart the in- 
tentions of nature, create warm friendships that frequently 
continue during their lives, and produce the most beneficial 
and cordial effects. When we thus see with our eyes, that 
the associating principle appears distinctly at so early a period, 
who will listen to those writers who choose to deny that man 
is, naturally, an associating or gregarious animal ? 



240 SOCIETY OF ANIMALS* 

With regard to the advantages we derive from association, 
a volume would not be sufficient to enumerate them. Man 
possesses a portion of the reasoning faculty highly superior to 
that of any other animal. He alone enjoys the power of com- 
municating and expressing his ideas by articulate and artifi- 
cial language. This inestimable prerogative is, perhaps, one 
of the greatest secondary bonds of society, and the greatest 
source of improvement to the human intellect. Without ar- 
tificial language, though nature has bestowed on every ani- 
mal a mode of expressing its wants and desires, its pleasures 
and pains, what a humiliating figure would the human spe- 
cies exhibit, even upon the supposition that they did associ- 
ate ! But when language and association are conjoined, the 
human intellect, in the progress of time, arrives at a high de- 
gree of perfection. Society gives rise to virtue, honor, gov- 
ernment, subordination, arts, science, order, happiness. All 
the individuals of a community conduct themselves upon a 
regulated system. Under the influence of established laws, 
kings and magistrates, by the exercise of legal authority, en- 
courage virtue, repress vice, and diffuse, through the extent 
of their jurisdictions, the happy effects of their administra- 
tion. In society, as in a fertile climate, human talents ger- 
minate and are expanded ; the mechanical and liberal arts 
flourish ; poets, orators, historians, philosophers, lawyers, 
physicians, and theologians are produced. These truths are 
pleasant ; and it were to be wished that no evils accompanied 
them. But, through the whole extent of nature, it would ap- 
pear, from our limited views, that good and evil, pleasure and 
pain, are necessary and perpetual concomitants. 

The advantages of society are immense and invaluable. 
But the inconveniences, hardships, injustice, oppressions, and 
cruelties, which too often originate from it, are great and 
lamentable. Even under the mildest and best-regulated gov- 
ernments, animosities, jealousies, avarice, fraud, and chicane, 
are unfortunately never removed from our observation. In 
absolute monarchies, and particularly in despotic govern 
ments, the scenes of private and of general calamity and 
distress are often too dreadful to be described. Notwithstand- 
ing all these disadvantages, however, any government is 
preferable to anarchy ; and the comforts, pleasures, and im- 
provements we receive from associating with each other, 
overbalance all the evils to which society gives rise. 

From an attentive observation of the manners and economy 
of animals, society has been distinguished into two kinds, 



SOCIETY OF ANIMALS. 241 

which have been called proper and improper. — 1. Proper 
Societies comprehend all those animals which not only live 
together in numbers, but carry on certain operations which 
have a direct tendency to promote the welfare and happiness 
of the community. — 2. Improper Societies include all those 
animals which herd together, and love the company of each 
other, without carrying on any common operation. 

1. Proper Societies. — It is almost needless to remark that 
man holds the first rank in animal associations of this kind. 
If men did not assist each other, no operation of any magni- 
tude, or which could show any great superiority of talents 
above those of the brute creation, could possibly be effected. 
A single family, or even a few families united, like other car- 
nivorous animals, might hunt their prey, and procure a 
sufficient quantity of food. They might, like the bear, lodge 
in the cavities of trees ; they might occupy natural caves in 
the rocks ; they might even build huts with branches of trees 
and with turf, and cement these gross materials with clay. 
This lowest and most abject view of human nature is not ex- 
aggerated. It were to be wished that this grovelling condi- 
tion of mankind were fictitious, and that, in many regions of 
the globe, it did not, at this moment, exist. These operations 
of men, when only acquainted with the mere rudiments of 
society, indicate parts little superior to those of the brutes. 
Man, even in his most uninformed state, possesses the capacity 
for every species of knowledge and every exertion of genius. 
But it may be cherished, expanded, and brought gradually to 
perfection. It is by numerous and regularly-established so- 
cieties alone, that such glorious exhibitions of human intellect 
can be produced. What is the hut of a savage, when com- 
pared to the palace of a prince ? or what his canoe, when 
compared to a first-rate ship of war ? 

Next to the intelligence exhibited in human society, that of 
the beavers is the most conspicuous. Their operations in 
preparing, fashioning, and transporting the heavy materials 
for building their winter habitations, as formerly remarked, 
are truly astonishing ; and, when we read their history, we 
are apt to think that we are perusing the history of man in a 
period of society not inconsiderably advanced. It is only by 
the united strength and cooperation of numbers, that the 
beavers could be enabled to produce such wonderful effects ; 
for, in a solitary state, as they at present appear in some 
northern parts of Europe, the beavers are timid and stupid 
animals. They neither associate, nor attempt to construct 
21 



242 



SOCIETY OF ANIMALS. 



villages, but content themselves with digging holes in the 
earth. Like men under the oppression of despotic govern- 
ments, the spirit of the European beavers is depressed, and 
their genius is extinguished by terror, and by a perpetual and 
necessary attention to individual safety. The northern parts 
of Europe are now so populous, and the animals there are so 
perpetually hunted for the sake of their furs, that they have 
no opportunity of associating; of course, those wonderful 
marks of their sagacity, which they exhibit in the remote and 
uninhabited regions of North America, are no longer to be 
found. The society of beavers is a society of peace and of 
affection. They never quarrel or injure one another, but live 
together in different numbers, according to the dimensions of 
particular cabins, in the most perfect harmony. The princi- 
ple of their union is neither monarchical nor despotic ; for 
the inhabitants of the different cabins, as well as those of the 
whole village, seem to acknowledge no chief or leader what- 
ever. Their association presents to our observation a model 
of a pure and perfect republic, the only basis of which is mutual 
and unequivocal attachment. They have no law but the law 
of love and of parental affection. Humanity prompts us to 
wish that it were possible to establish republics of this kind 
among mankind. But the dispositions of men have little af- 
finity to those of the beavers. 

The hampster, or German marmot, and some other quadru- 
peds of this kind, live in society, and assist each other in dig- 
ging and rendering commodious their subterraneous habita- 
tions. The operations of the marmots have already been de- 
scribed ; and the nature of their society, as they continue 
during the winter in a torpid state, is either less known, or 
does not excite so much admiration, as that of the beavers. 

Pairing birds, in some measure, may be considered as form- 
ing proper society ; because, in general, the males and fe- 
males mutually assist each other in building nests and feeding 
their young. But this society, except in the eagle tribes, com- 
monly continues no longer than their mutual offspring are fully 
able to provide for themselves. None of the feathered tribes, 
as far as we know, unite in bodies, in order to carry on any 
operation common to the whole. 

Neither do we learn from history that fishes ever associate 
for the purpose of executing any common operation. Many 
of them, as herrings, salmon, &c, assemble in multitudes at 
particular seasons of the year ; but this association, to which 
they are impelled by instinct, has no common object ; for 



SOCIETY OF ANIMALS. 243 

each individual is stimulated to act in this manner by its own 
motives, and no general effect is produced by mutual exertions. 

In proper societies, each individual not only attends to his 
own preservation and welfare, but all the members cooperate 
in certain laborious offices, which produce many common ad- 
vantages, that could not otherwise be procured. In some 
societies, the general principle of association and of mutual 
labor is purely instinctive, though, in many cases, individuals 
learn, by observation and experience, to modify or accommo- 
date this general principle according to particular accidents 
or circumstances ; some examples of which have already been 
given in the chapter upon instinct. 

The insect tribes furnish many instances of proper societies. 
The honey-bees not only labor in common with astonishing 
assiduity and art, but their whole attention and affections 
seem to centre in the person of the queen or sovereign of the 
hive. She is the basis of their association and of all their 
operations. When she dies by any accident, the whole commu- 
nity are instantly in disorder. All their labors cease. No new 
cells are constructed. Neither honey nor wax is collected. 
Nothing but perfect anarchy prevails, till a new queen or 
female is obtained. The government or society of bees is 
more of a monarchical than of a republican nature. The 
whole of the members of the state seem to respect and to be 
directed by a single female. This fact affords a strong in- 
stance of the force and wisdom of nature. The female alone 
is the mother of the whole hive, however numerous. With- 
out her, the species could not be continued. Nature, there- 
fore, has endowed the rest of the hive with a wonderful 
affection to their common parent. For the reception of her 
eggs, nature impels them to construct cells, and to lay up 
stores of provisions for winter subsistence. These operations 
proceed from pure instinctive impulses. But every instinct 
necessarily supposes a degree of intellect, a substratum to be 
acted upon, otherwise no impulse couid be felt, and, of course, 
no action nor mark of intelligence could possibly be produced. 
That the intelligence, the government, and the sagacity 
of bees have been frequently exaggerated, and as frequently 
misunderstood, no real philosopher, or natural historian, will 
pretend to deny. But to refuse to believe them possessed of 
any portion of intelligence, and to refer all their wonderful 
operations to a mere mechanical impulse, as is done by 
Buffon, is equally opposed to the dictates of common sense 
and of sound philosophy. 



244 SOCIETY OF ANIMALS. 

What are called the common caterpillars afford an instance 
of proper association. About the middle of summer, a but- 
terfly deposits from three to four hundred eggs on the leaf of 
a tree, from each of which, in a few days, a young caterpillar 
proceeds. They are no sooner hatched than they begin to 
form a common habitation. They spin silken threads, which 
they attach to one edge of the leaf, and extend them to the 
other. By this operation they make the two edges of the 
leaf approach each other, and form a cavity resembling a 
hammock. In a short time, the concave leaf is completely 
roofed with a covering of silk. Under this tent the animals 
live together in mutual friendship and harmony. When not 
disposed to eat or spin, they retire to their tent. It requires 
several of these habitations to contain the whole. According 
as these animals increase in size, the number of their tents is 
augmented. But these are only temporary and partial lodg- 
ments, constructed for mutual conveniency, till the caterpil- 
lars are in a state to build one more spacious, and which will 
be sufficient to contain the whole. After gnawing one half 
of the substance of such leaves as happen to be near the end 
of some twig or small branch, they begin their great work. 
In constructing this new edifice or nest, the caterpillars en- 
crust a considerable part of the twig with white silk. In the 
same manner, they cover two or three of such leaves as are 
nearest to the termination of the twig. They then spin silken 
coverings of greater dimensions, in which they inclose the 
two or three leaves together with the twig. The nest is now 
so spacious that it is able to contain the whole community, 
every individual of which is employed in the common labor. 
These nests are too frequently seen, in autumn, upon the 
fruit-trees of our gardens. They are still more exposed to 
observation in winter, when the leaves, which formerly con- 
cealed many of them, have fallen. They consist of large 
bundles of white silk and withered leaves, without any reg- 
ular or constant form. Some of them are flat, and others 
roundish ; but none of them are destitute of angles. By dif- 
ferent plain coverings extended from the opposite sides of 
the leaves and of the twig, the internal part of the nest is 
divided into a number of different apartments. To each of 
these apartments, which seem to be very irregular, there are 
passages by which the caterpillars can either go out in quest 
of food, or retire in the evening, or during rainy weather. 
The silken coverings, by repeated layers, become at last so 
thick and strong, that they resist all the attacks of the wind a 



SOCIETY OF ANIMALS. 



245 



and all the injuries of the air, during eight or nine months. 
About the beginning of October, or when the* frost first com- 
mences, the whole community shut themselves up in the nest. 
During the winter they remain immovable, and seemingly 
dead. But, when exposed to heat, they soon discover symp- 
toms of life, and begin to creep. In this country, they seldom 
go out of the nest till the middle or end of April. When 
they shut themselves up for the winter, they are very small ; 
but, after they have fed for some days in spring upon the 
young and tender leaves, they find the nest itself, and all the 
entrances to it, too small for the increased size of their bodies. 
To remedy this inconvenience, these disgusting reptiles know 
how to enlarge both the nest and its passages by additional 
operations accommodated to their present state. Into these 
new lodgings they retire when they want to repose, to screen 
themselves from the injuries of the weather, or to cast their 
skins. In fine, after casting their skins several times, the 
time of their dispersion arrives. From the beginning to near 
the end of June, they lead a solitary life. Their social dis- 
position is no longer felt. Each of them spins a pod of coarse 
brownish silk. In a few days they are changed into chrysa- 
lids ; and, in eighteen or twenty days more, they are trans- 
formed into butterflies. 

Caterpillars of another species, which Reaumur distin- 
guishes by the appellation of the processionary caterpillars, 
live in society till their transformation into flies. These 
caterpillars are of the hairy kind, and are of a reddish color. 
They inhabit the oak, and feed upon its leaves. When very 
young, they have no fixed or general habitation. But, after 
they have acquired about one half of their natural size, they 
assemble together, and construct a nest sufficient to accom- 
modate the whole. The nests of these caterpillars are at- 
tached to the trunks of the oak, and are situated sometimes 
near the earth, and sometimes seven or eight feet above its 
surface. They consist of different strata, or layers of silk, 
which are spun by the united labor of the whole community. 
Their figure is neither striking nor uniform. On the part of. 
the oak to which they are fixed, they form a protuberance 
similar to those knots which are seen upon trees. This pro- 
tuberance sometimes resembles a segment of a circle, and 
sometimes it is three or four times longer than it is broad. 
Some of these nests are from eighteen to twenty inches long, 
and from five to six inches wide. About the middle of their 
convexity, they often rise more than four inches above the 
21 * 



246 SOCIETY OP ANIMALS. 

surface of the tree. Between the trunk of the tree and the 
layers of silk, a single hole is left, \p allow the animals to go 
out in quest of food, and to retire into the nest after they are 
satiated. Notwithstanding the great bulk of these nests, and 
though there are often three or four of them upon the same 
tree, and never elevated above the height of distinct vision, 
they are not easily perceived ; for the silk of which they are 
composed is cinerous, and resembles, in color, those mosses 
with which the trunk of the oak is generally covered. 

The inhabitants of a nest, which are numerous, march out, 
about the setting of the sun, to forage, under the conduct of 
a chief or leader, all whose movements they uniformly follow, 
The order they observe is singular. The first rank consists 
of single animals, the second of two, the third of three, the 
fourth of four, and sometimes more. In this manner they 
proceed, in quest of food, with all the regularity of disciplined 
troops. The chief or leader has no marks of preeminence ; 
for any individual that happens first to issue from the nest, 
from that circumstance alone, becomes the leader of an expe- 
dition. After making a full repast upon the neighboring 
leaves, they return to the nest in the same regular order; and 
this practice they continue during the whole period of their 
existence in the caterpillar state. It was from this strange 
regularity of movement that Reaumur, with much propriety, 
denominated these animals pro cessionary caterpillars. When 
arrived at maturity, each individual spins a silken pod, is 
converted into a chrysalis, and afterwards assumes the form 
of a butterfly. This last transformation breaks all the bonds 
of their former association, and the female flies deposit their 
eggs, which, when hatched, produce new colonies, which ex- 
hibit the same economy and manners. 

There are several species of caterpillars which are real 
republicans, and whose discipline, manners, and genius, are 
as diversified as those of the inhabitants of different nations 
and climates. Some, like particular savages, construct a 
kind of hammocks, in which they take their victuals, repose, 
and spend their lives till the period of their transformation. 
Others, like the Arabs and Tartars, construct and live in 
silken tents, and, after consuming the neighboring herbage, 
they leave their former habitations, and encamp on fresh pas- 
ture. They go out of their tents at particular times in quest 
of food, and often to considerable distances ; but they never 
lose their way back. It is not by sight that they are directed 
with so much certainty to their abodes. Nature has furnished 



SOCIETY Otf ANIMALS, 247 

them with another guide for regaining their habitations. We 
pave oar streets with stones ; but the caterpillars cover all 
their roads with silken threads. These threads make white 
tracks, which are often more than a sixth of an inch wide. 
It is by following these silken tracks, however complicated, 
that the caterpillars never miss their nests. If the road is 
broken by a man's finger drawn along it, or by any other 
accident, the caterpillars are greatly embarrassed. They 
stop suddenly at the interrupted space, and exhibit every 
mark of fear and of diffidence. Here the march stops, till an 
individual, more bold or more impatient than his companions, 
traverses the gap. In his passage he leaves behind him a 
thread of silk, which serves as a bridge or conductor to the 
next that follows. By the progression of numbers, each of 
which spins a thread, the breach is soon repaired. We can- 
not suppose that these stupid animals cover their roads to 
prevent their wandering. But they never wander, because 
their roads are covered with silk. In this, as well as in many 
other instances, nature obliges animals to embrace the most 
effectual means of self-preservation, and even of conveniency, 
without their perceiving the utility of their own operations. 
The caterpillars, whose manners we have been describing, 
spin almost continually, because they are continually obliged 
to evacuate a silky matter, secreted from their food by ves- 
sels destined for that purpose, and included in their intes- 
tines. In obeying this call of nature, they effectually secure 
their retreat to their nests, and perhaps their existence. It 
may be said that caterpillars associate for no other reason 
but because they are all produced at the same time from eggs 
deposited near each other. But many other species of cater- 
pillars, which are brought to life in the very same circum- 
stances, never associate or act in concert in the performance 
of any mutual labor. The silkworms afford a familiar exam- 
ple. It is true they spontaneously remain assembled in the 
same place, which is of great advantage to manufacturers. 
But the individuals of other species disperse immediately 
after birth, and never reunite. Spiders, when newly hatched, 
begin with spinning a web in common ; but they soon termi- 
nate this association by devouring one another. 

As caterpillars do not engender till they arrive at the but- 
terfly state, their associations have no respect to the rearing 
or education of young. Self-preservation and individual con- 
venience are the only bonds of their union. A perfect equal- 
ity reigns among them, without any distinction of sex or even 



248 SOCIETY OF ANIMALS* 

of size. Each takes his share of the common labor ; and the 
whole society, which constitutes but one family, is the genuine 
issue of the same mother. 

The association and economy of the common ants merit 
some attention. With wonderful industry and activity they 
collect materials for the construction of their nest. They 
unite in numbers, and assist each other in excavating the 
earth, and in transporting to their habitation bits of straw, 
small pieces of wood, and other substances of a similar kind, 
which they employ in lining and supporting their subterra- 
neous galleries. The form of their nest or hill is somewhat 
conical, and, of course, the water, when it rains, runs easily 
off, without penetrating their abode. Under this hill there are 
many galleries or passages, which communicate with each 
other, and resemble the streets of a small city. 

The ants not only associate for the purpose of constructing 
a common habitation, but for cherishing and protecting their 
offspring. Every person must have often observed, when part 
of a nest is suddenly exposed, their extreme solicitude for the 
preservation of their chrysalids or nymphs, which often exceed 
the size of the animals themselves. With amazing dexterity 
and quickness, the ants transport their nymphs into the sub- 
terraneous galleries of the nest, and place them beyond the 
reach of any common danger. The courage and fortitude 
with which they defend their young is no less astonishing. 
The body of an ant was cut through the middle, and, after 
suffering this cruel treatment, so strong was its parental affec- 
tion, with its head, and one half of the body, it carried off 
eight or ten nymphs. They go to great distances in search 
of provisions. Their roads, which are often winding and 
involved, all terminate in the nest. 

The wisdom and foresight of the ants have been celebrated 
from the remotest antiquity. It has been asserted and believed 
for near three thousand years, that they lay up magazines of 
provisions for the winter, and that they even cut off the germ 
of the grain to prevent it from shooting. Bat the ancients 
were never famed for accurate researches into the nature and 
operations of insects. These supposed magazines could be of 
no use to the ants ; for, like the marmots and dormice, they 
sleep during the winter. A very moderate degree of cold is 
sufficient to render them torpid. In fact, it is now well 
known, that they amass no magazines of provisions. 

The grains which, with so much industry and labor, they 
carry to their nest, are not intended to be food to the animals, 



SOCIETY OF ANIMALS. 249 

but, like the bits of straw and wood, are employed as materials 
in the construction of their habitation. 

2. Improper Societies. — Many animals are gregarious, 
though they unite not with a view to any joint operation, 
such as constructing common habitations, or mutually and 
indiscriminately nourishing and protecting the offspring pro- 
duced by the whole society. But, even among animals of 
this description, there are motives or bonds of association ; 
and, in many instances, they mutually assist and defend each 
other from hostile assaults. 

The ox is a gregarious animal. When a herd of oxen are 
pasturing in a meadow, if a wolf makes his appearance, they 
instantly form themselves in battle array, and present their 
united horns to the enemy. This warlike disposition often 
intimidates the wolf, and obliges him to retire. 

In winter, the hinds and young stags associate, and form 
herds, which are always more numerous in proportion to the 
severity of the weather. One bond of their society seems to 
be the advantage of mutual warmth derived from each others 
bodies. In spring they disperse, and the hinds conceal them- 
selves in the forests, where they produce their young. . The 
young stags, however, continue together; they love to browse 
in company ; and necessity alone forces them to separate. 

The Count de BurTon represents sheep as stupid creatures, 
which are incapable of defending themselves against the 
attacks of any rapacious animal. He maintains that the race 
must long ago have been extinguished, if man had not taken 
them under his immediate protection* But nature has fur- 
nished every species of animated beings with weapons and 
arts of defence which are sufficient for individual preservation, 
as well as for the continuation of the kind. Sheep are endow- 
ed with a strong associating principle. When threatened with 
an attack, like soldiers, they form a line of battle, and boldly 
face the enemy. In a natural state, the rams constitute one 
half of the flock. They join together and form the front. 
When prepared in this manner for repelling an assault, no 
lion or tiger can resist their united impetuosity and force. 

A family of hogs, when in a state of natural liberty, never 
separate till the young have acquired strength sufficient to 
repel the wolf. When a wolf threatens an attack, the whole 
family unite their forces, and bravely defend each other. 

The wild dogs of Africa hunt in packs, and carry on a per- 
petual war against other rapacious animals. The jackals of 
Asia and Africa likewise hunt in packs. But, though animals 



250 DOCILITY OF ANIMALS, 

of this kind mutually assist each other in killing prey, indi- 
vidual advantage is the chief, if not the only, bond of this 
temporary union. 

Another kind of society is observable among domestic ani- 
mals. Horses and oxen, when deprived of companions of 
their own species, associate, and discover a visible attach- 
ment. A dog and ox, or a dog and a cow, when placed in 
certain circumstances, though the species are remote, and 
even hostile, acquire a strong affection for each other. The 
same kind of association takes place between dogs and cats, 
between cats and birds, &c. If domestic animals had a strong 
aversion to one another, man could not derive so many ad- 
vantages from them. Horses, oxen, sheep, &,c, by browsing 
promiscuously together, augment and meliorate the common 
pasture. By living under the same roof, and feeding in com- 
mon, this associating principle is strengthened and modified 
by habit, which often commences immediately after birth. 
A single horse confined in an inclosure, discovers every mark 
of uneasines?. He becomes restless, neglects his food, and 
breaks through every fence, in order to join his companions 
in a neighboring field. Oxen and cows will not fatten in the 
finest pasture, if they are deprived of society. 

From the facts and remarks contained in this chapter, it 
seems to be evident, that the principle of association in man, 
as well as in many other animals, is natural ; and that this 
principle may be strengthened and modified by the number- 
less advantages derived from it, by imitation, by habit, and 
by many other circumstances. 



CHAPTER XII. 

OF THE DOCILITY OF ANIMALS. 

Of all animals capable of culture, man is the most ductile. 
By instruction, imitation, and habit, his mind may be moulded 
into any form. It may be exalted by science and art to a 
degree of knowledge of which the vulgar and uninformed 
have not the most distant conception. The reverse is melan- 
choly. When the human mind is left to its own operations, 
and deprived of almost every opportunity of social informa- 



DOCiUTI? OF ANtMALS. S5I 

tion, it sinks so low, that it is nearly rivalled by the most sa- 
gacious brutes. It is not necessary to enlarge" upon a subject 
so familiar to the most common observer as the capacity of 
mankind for acquiring knowledge by observation and instruc- 
tion. The bodies of men, though not so ductile as their 
minds, are capable, when properly managed by early culture, 
of wonderful exertions. Men accustomed to live in polished 
societies, have little or no idea of the activity, the courage, 
the patience, and the persevering industry of savages, when 
simply occupied in hunting wild animals for food for them- 
selves and their families. The hunger, the fatigue, the hard- 
ships, which they not only endure with fortitude, but despise, 
would amaze and terrify the imagination of any civilized 
European, 

Beside man, many other animals are capable of being in- 
structed. The ape kind, and especially the larger species of 
them, imitate the actions of men without any instruction. 
This imitation they are enabled to perform with the greater 
exactness, on account of their structure, which approaches 
in many respects so nearly to that of the human species. 
The ourang-outang is the most celebrated of these animals in 
this particular. 

" The ourang-outang," says BufFon, " which I saw, walked 
always on two feet, even when carrying things of considera- 
ble weight. His air was melancholy, his movements measured, 
his disposition gentle, and very different from those of other 
apes. He had neither the impatience of the Barbary ape, 
the maliciousness of the baboon, nor the extravagance of the 
monkeys. It may be alleged that he had the benefit of in- 
struction ; but the apes, which I shall compare with him, 
were educated in the same manner. Signs and words were 
alone sufficient to make our ourang-outang act ; but the baboon 
required a cudgel, and the other apes a whip ; for none of 
them would obey without blows. I have seen this animal 
present his hand to conduct the people who came to visit him, 
and walk as gravely along as if he had formed a part of the 
company. I have seen him sit down at table, unfold his 
towel, wipe his lips, use a spoon or a fork to carry the victuals 
to his mouth, pour his liquor into a glass, and make it touch 
that of the person who drank along with him. When invited 
to drink tea, he brought a cup and a saucer, placed them on 
the table, put in sugar, poured out the tea, and allowed it to 
cool before he drank it. All these actions he performed with 
out any other instigation than the signs or verbal orders of 



25f2 £0CILIT¥ Of ANIMALS, 

his master, and often of his own accord. He did no injury to 
any person. He even approached company with circumspec- 
tion, and presented himself as if he wanted to be caressed. 
He was very fond of dainties, which every body gave him ; 
and, as his breast was diseased, and he was afflicted with a 
teasing cough, this quantity of sweetmeats undoubtedly con- 
tributed to shorten his life. He lived one summer in Paris, 
and died in London the following winter. He ate almost 
every thing ; but preferred ripe and dried fruits to all other 
kinds of food. He drank a little wine ; but spontaneously- 
left it for milk, tea, or other mild liquors." 

M. de la Brosse remarks of two ourang-outangs, whose ages 
exceeded not twelve months, that H These animals have the 
instinct of sitting at table like men. They eat every kind of 
food without distinction. They use a knife, a fork, or a spoon, 
to cut or lay hold of what is put upon their plate. They drink 
w r ine and other liquors. We carried them abroad. At table, 
when they wanted any thing, they made themselves under- 
stood by the cabin-boy ; and when the boy refused to give 
them what they demanded, they sometimes became enraged, 
seized him by the arm, bit and threw him down. — The male 
was seized with sickness on the road. He made himself be 
attended as a human being. He was even twice bled in the 
right arm ; and, whenever he found himself afterwards in the 
same condition, he held out his arm to be bled, as if he knew 
that he had formerly received benefit from that operation." 

We are informed by Francis Pyrard, " that, in the province 
of Sierra Leon a, there is a species of animals called baris 
(ourang-outang), which are strong and well-limbed, and so 
industrious, that, when properly trained and fed, they work 
like servants ; that they generally walk on the two hind feet ; 
that they pound any substances in a mortar ; that they go to 
bring water from the river in^small pitchers, which they carry 
full on their heads. But when they arrive at the door, if the 
pitchers are not soon taken off, they allow them to fall ; and, 
when they perceive the pitcher overturned and broken, they 
w T eep and lament." With regard to the education of these 
animals, the testimony of Schoutton corresponds with that of 
Pyrard. " They are taken," says he, " with snares, taught to 
walk on their hind feet, and to use their fore feet as hands in 
performing different operations, as rinsing glasses, carrying 
drink round to the company, turning a spit, &,c." Guat informs 
us, that he " saw at Java a very extraordinary ape. It was a 
female. She was very tall, and often walked erect on her 



DOCILITY OF ANIMALS 253 

hind feet. She made her bed very neatly every day, lay upon 
her side, and covered herself with the bed-clothes. When her 
head ached, she bound it up with her handkerchief; and it 
was amusing to see her thus hooded in bed. I could relate 
many other little articles which appeared to be extremely 
singular. But I admired them not so much as the multitude ; 
because, as I knew the design of bringing her to Europe to 
be exhibited as a show, I was inclined to think that she had 
been taught many of these monkey tricks, which the people 
considered as being natural to the animal. She died in our 
ship, about the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope. The 
figure of this ape had a very great resemblance to that of 
man." 

We have now enumerated the principal facts regarding this 
extraordinary animal, which have been related by voyagers 
of credit, and by those who have seen and examined him in 
Europe ; and shall only remark, that notwithstanding the 
great similarity of his structure and organs to those of the hu- 
man species, his genius and talents seem to be very limited. 
The form of his body enables him to imitate every human ac- 
tion. But though he has the organs of speech, he is destitute 
of articulate language. If, however, he were domesticated, 
and proper pains bestowed for instructing him, he might pos- 
sibly be taught to articulate. But, supposing this point to be 
obtained, if he remained incapable of reflection, if he was 
unable to comprehend the meaning of words, or to discover 
by his expressions a degree of intellect greatly superior to 
that of the brute creation, which I imagine would be the case, 
he could never, as some authors have heM. forth, be exalted 
to the distinguished rank of human beings. 

Of all quadrupeds, of whose history and manners we have 
any proper knowledge, the elephant is one of the most re- 
markable both for docility and for understanding. Though 
his size is enormous, and his members rude and dispropor- 
tioned, which give him, at first sight, the aspect of dulness 
and stupidity, his genius is great, and his sagacious manners, 
and his sedate and collected deportment, are almost incredi- 
ble. He is the largest and strongest of all terrestrial animals. 
Though naturally brave, his dispositions are mild and peace- 
able. He is an associating animal, and seldom appears alone 
in the forests. When in danger, or when they undertake a 
depredatory expedition into cultivated fields, the elephants 
assemble in troops. The oldest takes the lead ; the next in 
seniority brings up the rear; and the young and the feeble 
22 



254 DOCILITY OF ANIMALS. 

occupy the centre. In the forest and solitudes they move 
with less precaution ; but never separate so far asunder as to 
render them incapable of affording each other assistance when 
danger approaches. A troop of elephants constitutes a most 
formidable band. Wherever they march, the forest seems to 
fall before them. They bear down the branches upon which 
they feed ; and, if they enter an inclosure, they soon destroy 
all the labors of the husbandmen. Their invasions are the 
more tremendous, as there is hardly any means of repelling 
them ; for to attack a troop, when thus united, would require 
a little army. It is only when one or two elephants happen to 
linger behind the rest, that the hunters dare exert their art 
and ingenuity in making an attack; for any attempt to dis- 
turb the troop would certainly prove fatal to the assailants. 
When an insult is offered, the elephants instantly move for- 
ward against the offender, toss him in the air with their tusks, 
and afterwards trample him to pieces under their feet, or 
rather pillars of flesh and bone. Let not the character of this 
noble, majestic animal, however, be misrepresented. With 
force and dignity he resents every affront ; but, when not dis- 
turbed by petulance or actual injury, he never shows a hos- 
tile intention either against man or any other animal. Ele- 
phants live entirely on vegetables, and have no thirst for 
blood. Such is their social and generous disposition, that, 
when an individual chances to meet with a luxurious spot of 
pasture, he immediately calls to his companions, and invites 
them to partake of his good fortune. 

The elephant possesses all the senses in perfection ; but, 
in the sense of touching, he excels all the brute creation. 
His trunk is the chief instrument of this sense. In an ele- 
phant fourteen feet high, the trunk is about eight feet long, 
and five feet and a half in circumference at the base. It is a 
large fleshy tube, divided through its whole extent by a sep- 
tum or partition. It is capable of motion in every direction. 
The animal can shorten or lengthen it at pleasure. It answers 
every purpose of a hand ; for it grasps large objects with 
great force, and its extremity can lay hold of a sixpence or 
even of a pin. The trunk of the elephant affords him the 
same means of address as the ape. It serves the purposes of 
an arm and a hand. By this instrument, the elephant conveys 
large or small bodies to his mouth, places them on his back, 
embraces them fast, or throws them forcibly to a distance. 

In a state of nature and perfect freedom, the dispositions 
of the elephant are neither sanguinary nor ferocious. They 



DOCILITY OF ANIMALS. 255 

are gentle creatures, and never exert their strength, or employ 
their weapons, but in defending themselves or protecting their 
companions. Even when deprived of the instruction of men, 
they possess the sagacity of the beaver, the address of the 
ape, and the acuteness of the dog. To these mental talents 
are added the advantages of amazing bodily strength, and the 
experience and knowledge he acquires by living at least two 
centuries. With his trunk he tears up trees. By a push of 
his body he makes a breach in a wall. To this prodigious 
strength he adds courage, prudence, and coolness of deport- 
ment. As he never makes an attack but when he receives an 
injury, he is universally beloved ; and all animals respect, be- 
cause none have any reason to fear him. In all ages, men 
lave entertained a veneration for this most magnificent and 
agacious of terrestrial creatures. The ancients regarded 
lim as a miracle of nature, and he is, in reality, one of her 
greatest efforts. But they have greatly exaggerated his fac- 
ulties. Without hesitation, they have ascribed to him high 
intellectual powers and moral virtues. Pliny, JElian, Plu- 
tarch, and other authors of a more modern date, have be- 
stowed on elephants not only rational manners, but an innate 
•eligion, a kind of daily adoration of the sun and moon, the 
jse of ablution before worship, a spirit of divination, piety 
toward Heaven and their fellow creatures, whom they assist 
it the approach of death, and, after their decease, bedew them 
vith tears, and cover their bodies with earth. 

When tamed and instructed by man, the elephant is soon 
endered the mildest and most obedient of all domestic ani- 
aals. He loves his keeper, caresses him, and anticipates his 
commands. He learns to comprehend signs, and even to un- 
derstand the expression of sounds. He distinguishes the 
tones of command, of anger, and of approbation, and regulates 
his actions by his perceptions. The voice of his master he 
never mistakes. His orders are executed with alacrity, but 
without any degree of precipitation. His movements are al- 
ways measured and sedate, and his character seems to cor- 
respond with the gravity of his mass. To accommodate those 
who mount him, he readily learns to bend his knees. With 
his trunk he salutes his friends, uses it for raising burdens, 
and assists in loading himself. He loves to be clothed, and 
seems to be proud of gaudy trappings. In the southern 
regions, he is employed in drawing wagons, ploughs, and 
chariots. "I was eye-witness," says P. Philippe, " to the fol- 
lowing facts. At Goa, there are always some elephants em- 



256 DOCILITY OF ANIMALS. 

ployed in the building of ships. I one day went to the side 
of the river, near which a large ship was building in the city 
of Goa, where there is a large area filled with beams for that 
purpose. Some men tie the ends of the heaviest beams with 
a rope, which is handed to the elephant, who carries it to his 
mouth, and, after twisting it round his trunk, draws it, with- 
out any conductor, to the place where the ship is building, 
though it had only once been pointed out to him. He some- 
times drew beams so large that more than twenty men would 
have been unable to move them. But what surprised me 
still more, when other beams obstructed the road, he elevated 
the ends of his own beams, that they might run easily over 
those which lay in his way. Could the most enlightened man 
do more ? " When at work, the elephant draws equally, and 
if properly managed, never turns restive. The man who con- 
ducts the animal generally rides on his neck, and employs a 
hooked iron rod, or a bodkin, with which he pricks the head 
or sides of the ears, in order to push the creature forward, or 
to make him turn. But words are commonly sufficient. The 
attachment and affection of the elephant are sometimes so 
strong and durable that he has been known to die of grief, 
when, in an unguarded paroxysm of rage, he had killed his 
guide. 

Before the invention of gunpowder, elephants were em- 
ployed in war by the African and Asiatic nations. " From 
time immemorial, " says Schoutton, " the kings of Ceylon, of 
Pegu, and of Aracan, have used elephants in war. Naked 
sabres were tied to their trunks, and on their backs were fixed 
small wooden castles, which contained five or six men armed 
with javelins, and other weapons. " The Greeks and Romans, 
however, soon became acquainted with the nature of these 
monstrous warriors. They opened their ranks to let the animals 
pass, and directed all their weapons not against the elephants, 
but their conductors, Since fire has now become the element 
of war, and the chief instrument of destruction, elephants, who 
are terrified both at the flame and noise, would be more dan- 
gerous than useful in our modern battles. The Indian kings, 
however, still arm elephants in their wars. In Cochin, and 
other parts of Malabar, all the warriors who fight not on foot 
are mounted on elephants. The same practice obtains in 
Tonquin, Siam, and Pegu. In these countries, the kings and 
nobles at public festivals are always preceded and followed 
by numerous trains of elephants, pompously adorned with 
pieces of shining metal, and clothed with rich garments. Their 



DOCILITY OF ANIMALS. 257 

tusks are ornamented with rings of gold and silver ; their ears 
and cheeks are painted with various colors ; they are crowned 
with garlands ; and a number of small bells are fixed to dif- 
ferent parts of their bodies. They delight in gaudy attire; 
for they are cheerful and caressing in proportion to the num- 
ber and splendor of their ornaments. The Asiatics, who were 
very anciently civilized, perceiving the sagacity and docility 
of the elephant, educated him in a systematic manner, and 
modified his dispositions according to their own manners, and 
the useful labors in which his strength and dexterity could be 
employed. 

A domestic elephant performs more labor than could be 
accomplished by six horses ; but he requires much care and 
a great deal of food. He is subject to be overheated, and 
must be led to the water twice or thrice a day. He easily 
learns to bathe himself. With his trunk he sucks up large 
quantities of water, carries it to his mouth, drinks part of it, 
and by elevating his trunk, makes the remainder run over 
every part of his body. To give some idea of the labor he 
performs, and the docility of his disposition, it is worthy of 
remark, that, in India, bales, sacks, tuns, are transported from 
one place to another by elephants. They carry burdens on 
their bodies, their necks, their tusks, and even in their mouths, 
by giving them the end of a rope, which they hold fast with 
their teeth. Uniting sagacity with strength, they never break 
or injure any thing committed to their charge. From the 
margins of the rivers they put weighty bundles into boats with- 
out wetting them, lay them down gently, and arrange them 
where they ought to be placed. When the goods are disposed 
as their masters direct, they examine with their trunks 
whether the articles are properly stowed ; and if a cask or tun 
rolls, they go spontaneously in quest of stones to prop and 
render it firm. 

In the elephant, the sense of smelling is acute, and he is 
passionately fond of odoriferous flowers, which he collects one 
by one, forms them into a nosegay, and after gratifying his 
nose, conveys them to his mouth. 

In India, the domestic elephants, to whom the use of water 
is as necessary as that of air, are allowed every possible con- 
venience for bathing themselves. The animal goes into a 
river till the water reaches his belly. He then lies down on 
one side, fills his trunk several times, and dexterously throws 
the water on such parts as happen to be uncovered. The 
master, after cleaning and currying one side, desires the 
22* 



258 DOCILITY OP ANIMALS, 

animal to turn to the other, which command he obeys with 
the greatest alacrity ; and when both sides have been properly 
cleaned, he comes out of the river, and stands some time on 
the bank to dry himself. The elephant, though his mass 
be enormous, is an excellent swimmer ; and, of course, he is 
of great use in the passage of rivers. When employed on 
occasions of this kind, he is often loaded with two pieces of 
cannon which admit three or four pound balls, beside great 
quantities of baggage and several men fixed to his ears and 
tail. When thus heavily loaded, he spontaneously enters the 
river and swims over, with his trunk elevated in the air for the 
benefit of respiration. He is fond of wine and ardent spirits. 
By showing him a vessel loaded with any of these liquors, and 
promising him it as the reward of his labors, he is induced to 
exert the greatest efforts, and to perform the most painful 
tasks. The elephant is employed in dragging artillery over 
mountains, and, on these occasions, his sagacity and docility 
are conspicuous. Horses or oxen, when yoked to a cannon, 
make all their exertions to pull it up a declivity. But the 
elephant pushes the breech forward with his front, and at each 
effort, supports the carriage with his knee, which he places 
against the wheel. He seems to understand what his cornack, 
or conductor, says to him. When his conductor wants him to 
perform any painful labor, he explains the nature of the opera- 
tion, and gives the reasons which should induce him to obey. 
If the elephant shows a reluctance to the task, the cornack 
promises to give him wine, arrack, or any other article that he 
is fond of, and then the animal exerts his utmost efforts. But 
to break any promise made to him is extremely dangerous. 
Many cornacks have fallen victims to indiscretions of this kind. 
" At Dehan," says M. de Bussy, " an elephant, from re- 
venge, killed his cornack. The man's wife, who beheld the 
dreadful scene, took her two children, and threw them at the 
feet of the enraged animal, saying, Since you have slain my 
husband, take my life also, as well as that of my children. 
The elephant instantly stopped, relented, and, as if stung with 
remorse, took the eldest boy in its trunk, placed him on its 
neck, adopted him for its cornack, and would never allow any 
other person to mount it." 

From the members of the Royal Academy of Sciences we 
learn some curious facts with regard to the manners of the 
Versailles elephant. This elephant, they remark, seemed to 
know when it was mocked, and remembered the affront till it 
had an opportunity of revenge. A man deceived it, by pre- 



DOCILITY OP ANIMALS. 259 

tending to throw some food into its rnouth. The animal gave 
him such a blow with its trunk as knocked him down, and 
broke two of his ribs. A painter wanted to draw the animal 
in an unusual attitude, with its trunk elevated, and its mouth 
open. The painter's servant, to make it remain in this posi- 
tion, threw fruits into his mouth, but generally made only a 
feint of throwing them. This conduct enraged the elephant ; 
and, as if it knew that the painter was the cause of this teas- 
ing impertinence, instead of attacking the servant, it eyed the 
master, and squirted at him from its trunk, such a quantity of 
water as spoiled the paper on which he was drawing. This 
elephant commonly made less use of its strength than of its 
address. It loosed, with great ease and coolness, the buckle 
of a large double leathern strap, with which its leg was fixed ; 
and as the servants had wrapped the buckle round with a 
small cord, and tied many knots upon it, the creature, with 
much deliberation, loosed the whole, without breaking either 
the strap or the cord. 

It is remarked by Le P. Vincent Marie, that the elephant, 
when in a domestic state, is highly esteemed for his gentle- 
ness, docility, and friendship to his governor. When destined 
to the immediate service of princes, he is sensible of his 
good fortune, and maintains a gravity of demeanor correspond- 
ing to the dignity of his situation. But if, on the contrary, 
less honorable labors are assigned to him, he grows melan- 
choly, frets, and evidently discovers that he is humbled 
and depressed. He is fond of children, caresses them, and 
appears to discern the innocence of their manners. The 
Dutch voyagers relate, that, by giving elephants what is agree- 
able to them, they are soon rendered perfectly tame and sub- 
missive. They are so sagacious, that they may be said to be 
destitute of the use of language only. They are proud and 
ambitious ; and they are so grateful for good usage, that, as 
a mark of respect, they bow their heads in passing houses 
where they have been hospitably received. They allow them- 
selves to be led and commanded by a child ; but they love 
to be praised and caressed. When a wild elephant is taken, 
the hunters tie his feet, and one of them accosts and salutes 
him, makes apologies for binding him, protests, that no injury 
is intended, tells him, that, in his former condition, he fre- 
quently wanted food, but that, henceforward, he shall be well 
treated, and that every promise shall be performed to him. 
This soothing harangue is no sooner finished than the elephant 
placidly follows the hunter. From this fact, however, we 



260 DOCILITY OF ANIMALS. 

must not conclude that the elephant understands language, 
but that, like the dog, he has a strong discerning faculty. He 
distinguishes esteem from contempt, friendship from hatred, 
and many other emotions which are expressed by human ges- 
tures and features. For this reason, the elephant is more 
easily tamed by mildness than by blows. 

" I have frequently remarked/' says Edward Terry, " that 
the elephant performs many actions which seem to proceed 
more from reason than from instinct. He does every thing 
which his master commands. If he wants to terrify any per- 
son, he runs upon him with every appearance of fury, and 
when he comes near, stops short, without doing him the small- 
est injury. When the master chooses to affront any man, he 
tells the elephant, who immediately collects water and mud 
with his trunk, and squirts it upon the object pointed out to 
him. The Moguls keep some elephants who serve as execu- 
tioners to criminals condemned to death. When the conduct- 
or orders one of these animals to despatch the poor criminals 
quickly, he tears them to pieces in a moment with his feet ; 
but if desired to torment them slowly, he breaks their bones 
one after another, and makes them suffer a punishment as 
cruel as that of the wheel." 

Next to the elephant, the dog seems to be the most docile 
quadruped. A wild dog is a passionate, ferocious, and san- 
guinary animal. But, after he is reduced to a domestic state, 
these hostile dispositions are suppressed, and they are suc- 
ceeded by a warm attachment, and a perpetual desire of pleas- 
ing. The perceptions and natural talents of the dog are acute. 
When these are aided by instruction, the sagacity he dis- 
covers, and the actions he is taught to perform, often excite 
our wonder. Those animals which man has taken under his 
immediate protection are taught to perform artificial actions, 
or have their natural instincts improved, by three modes of 
instruction, punishment, reward, and imitation. More ductile 
in his nature than most other animals, the dog not only re- 
ceives instruction with rapidity, but accommodates his beha- 
vior and deportment to the manners and habits of those who 
command him. He assumes the very tone of the family in 
which he resides. Eager, at all times, to please his master 
or his friends, he furiously repels beggars ; because he proba- 
bly, from their dress, conceives them to be either thieves, or 
competitors for food. 

Though every dog, as well as every man, is naturally a 
hunter, the dexterity of both is highly improved by experience 



BGCiLlTtf OF ANIMALS. 261 

and instruction. The shepherd's dog, independently of all 
instruction, seems to be endowed by nature 'with an innate 
attachment to the preservation of sheep and cattle. His do- 
cility is likewise so great, that he not only learns to under- 
stand the language and commands of the shepherd, and obeys 
them with faithfulness and alacrity ; but, when at distances 
beyond the reach of his master's voice, he often stops, looks 
back, and recognizes the approbation or disapprobation of the 
shepherd by the mere waving of his hand. He reigns at the 
head of a flock, and is better heard than the voice of his mas- 
ter. His vigilance and activity produce order, discipline, and 
safety. Sheep and cattle are peculiarly subjected to his man- 
agement, which he prudently conducts and protects, and 
never employs force against them, except for the preservation 
of peace and good order. But when the flock committed to 
his charge is attacked by the fox, the wolf, or other rapacious 
animals, he makes a full display of his courage and sagacity. 
In situations of this kind, both his natural and acquired talents 
are exerted. Three shepherd's dogs are said to be a match 
for a bear, and four for a lion. 

Every person knows the docility and sagacity of such dogs 
as are employed in conducting blind mendicants. A blind 
beggar used to be led through the streets of Rome by a mid- 
dle-sized dog. This dog, beside leading his master in such a 
manner as to protect him from all danger, learned to distin- 
guish not only the streets, but the houses where his master 
was accustomed to receive alms twice or thrice a week. 
Whenever the animal came to any of these streets, with which 
he was well acquainted, he would not leave it till a call had 
been made at every house where his master was usually suc- 
cessful in his petitions. When the beggar began to ask alms, 
the dog, being wearied, lay down to rest; but the master was 
no sooner served or refused, than the dog rose spontaneously, 
and, without either order or sign, proceeded to the other 
houses where the beggar generally received some gratuity. 
When a halfpenny was thrown from a window, such was the 
sagacity and attention of this dog, that he went about in quest 
of it, lifted it from the ground with his mouth, and put it into 
his master's hat. Even when bread was thrown down, the 
animal would not taste it, unless he received a portion of it 
from the hand of his master. Without any other instruction 
than imitation, a mastiff, when accidentally shut out from a 
house which his master frequented, uniformly rung the bell 
for admittance. Dogs can be taught to go to market with 



262 DOCILITY OP ANIMALS. 

money, to repair to a known butcher, and to carry home the 
meat in safety. They can be taught to dance to music, and 
to search for food, and find any thing that is lost. 

There was a dog formerly belonging to a grocer in Edin- 
burgh, which for some time amused and astonished the people 
in the neighborhood. A man who went through the streets 
ringing a bell and selling penny pies, happened one day to 
treat this dog with a pie. The next time he heard the pie- 
man's bell, he ran to him with impetuosity, seized him by the 
coat, and would not suffer him to pass. The pie-man, who 
understood what the animal wanted, showed him a penny, and 
pointed to his master, who stood in the street-door, and saw 
what was going on. The dog immediately supplicated his 
master by many humble gestures and looks. The master put 
a penny into the dog's mouth, which he instantly delivered to 
the pie-man, and received his pie. This traffic between the 
pie-man and the grocer's dog was daily practised for several 
months. 

Dogs, horses, and even hogs, by rewards and punishments, 
and, I am afraid, often by cruelty, may be taught to perform 
actions, as we have frequently seen in public exhibitions, which 
are truly astonishing. But of these we must not enter into 
any detail. 

With regard to the horse, the gentleness of his dispositions, 
and the docility of his temper, are so well and so universally 
known, that it is unnecessary to dwell long upon the subject. 
To give some idea of what instruction horses receive when in 
a domestic state, we shall mention some traits of their form 
and manners when under no restraints. In South America 
the horses have multiplied prodigiously, and, in that thinly- 
inhabited country, live in perfect freedom. They fly from the 
presence of man. They wander about in troops, and devour, 
in immense meadows, the productions of a perpetual spring. 
Wild horses are stronger, lighter, and more nervous than the 
generality of those which are kept in a domestic state. They 
are by no means ferocious. Though superior in strength to 
most animals, they never make an attack. Whenever as- 
saulted, however, they either disdain the enemy, or strike him 
dead with their heels. They associate in troops from mutual 
attachment, and neither make war with other animals nor 
among themselves. As their appetites are moderate, and they 
have few objects to excite envy or discord, they live in perpet- 
ual peace. Their manners are gentle, and their tempers 
social. Their force and ardor are rendered conspicuous only 



DOCILITY OF ANIMALS. 263 

oy marks of emulation. They are anxious to be foremost iii 
the course, to brave danger in crossing a river, or in leaping 
a ditch or precipice; and it is said, that those horses which 
are most adventurous and expert in these natural exercises, 
are, when domesticated, the most generous, mild, and tract- 
able. 

Wild horses are taken notice of by several of the ancients. 
Herodotus mentions white wild horses on the banks of the 
Hypanis, in Scythia. He likewise tells us that in the north- 
ern part of Thrace, beyond the Danube, there were wild 
horses covered all over with hair five inches in length. The 
wild horses in America are the offspring of domestic horses 
originally transported thither from Europe by the Spaniards. 
The author of the History of the Buccaneers informs us, that 
troops of horses, sometimes consisting of 500, are frequently 
met with in the island of St. Domingo ; that, when they see 
a man, they all stop, and that one of their number approaches 
to a certain distance, blows through his nostrils, takes flight, 
and is instantly followed by the whole troop. He describes 
them as having gross heads and limbs, and long necks and 
ears. The inhabitants tame them with ease, and then train 
them to labor. In order to take them, gins of ropes are laid 
in the places which they are known to frequent. When 
caught by the neck, they soon strangle themselves, unless 
some person arrives in time to disentangle them. They are 
tied to trees by the body and limbs, and are left in that situa- 
tion two days without victuals or drink. This treatment is 
generally sufficient to render them more tractable, and they 
soon become as gentle as if they had never been wild. Even 
when any of these horses, by accident, regain their liberty, 
they never resume their savage state, but know their masters, 
and allow themselves to be approached and retaken. 

From these and similar facts, it may be concluded, that the 
dispositions of horses are gentle, and that they are naturally 
disposed to associate with man. After they are tamed they 
never forsake the abodes of men. On the contrary, they are 
anxious to return to the stable. The sweets of habit seem 
to supply all they have lost by slavery. When fatigued, the 
mansion of repose is full of comfort. They smell it at con- 
siderable distances, can distinguish it in the midst of popu- 
lous cities, and seem uniformly to prefer bondage to liberty. 
By some attention and address, colts are first rendered tract- 
able. When that point is gained, by different modes of 
management, the docility of the animal is improved, and they 



264 BdClLlW OP ANIMALS* 

soon learn to perform with alacrity the various labors assigned 
to them. The domestication of the horse is perhaps the 
noblest acquisition from the animal, world, which has ever 
been made by the genius, the art, and the industry of man. 
He is taught to partake of the dangers and fatigues of war, 
and seems to enjoy the glory of victory. He encounters 
death with ardor and with magnanimity. lie delights in the 
tumult of arms, and attacks the enemy with resolution and 
alacrity. It is not in perils and conflicts alone that the horse 
cooperates with the dispositions of his master. He even 
seems to participate of human pleasures and amusements. 
He delights in the chase and the tournament, and his eyes 
sparkle with emulation in the course. Though bold and in- 
trepid, however, he does not allow himself to be hurried on 
by a furious ardor. On proper occasions, he represses his 
movements, and knows how to check the natural fire of his 
temper. He not only yields to the hand, but seems to consult 
the inclination, of his rider. Always obedient to the impres- 
sions he receives, he flies or stops, and regulates his motions 
solely by the will of his master. 

Mr. Ray, who wrote about the end of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, informs us, that he had seen a horse who danced to 
music, who, at the command of his master, affected to be 
lame, who simulated death, lay motionless with his limbs ex- 
tended, and allowed himself to be dragged about, till some 
words were pronounced, when he instantly sprung up on his 
feet. Facts of this kind would scarcely receive credit, if 
every person were not now acquainted with the wonderful 
docility of the horses educated by public exhibitors of horse- 
manship. In exhibitions of this kind, the docility and prompt 
obedience t)f the animals deserve more admiration than the 
dexterous feats of the men. 

Animals of the ox kind, in a domestic state, are dull and 
phlegmatic. Their sensibility and talents seem to be very 
limited. But we should not pronounce rashly concerning 
the genius and powers of animals in a country where their 
education is totally neglected. In all the southern provinces 
of Africa and Asia, there are many wild bisons, or bunched 
oxen, which are caught young and tamed. They are soon 
taught to submit, without resistance, to all kinds of domestic 
labor. They become so tractable, that they are managed 
with as much ease as our horses. The voice of their master 
is alone sufficient to make them obey, and to direct their 
course. They are shod, curried, caressed, and supplied 



DOCILITY OP ANIMALS. 265 

abundantly with the best food. When managed in this man- 
ner, these animals appear to be different creatures from our 
oxen. The oxen of the Hottentots are favorite domestics, 
companions in amusements, assistants in all laborious exer- 
cises, and participate the habitation, the bed, and the table 
of their masters. As their nature is improved by the gentle- 
ness of their education, by the kind treatment they receive, 
and the perpetual attention bestowed on them, they acquire 
sensibility and intelligence, and perform actions which one 
would not expect from them. The Hottentots train oxen 
to war. In all their armies there are considerable troops of 
these oxen, which are easily governed, and are let loose by 
the chief when a proper opportunity occurs. They instantly 
dart with impetuosity upon the enemy. They strike with 
their horns, kick, overturn, and trample under their feet every 
thing that opposes their fury. They run ferociously into the 
ranks, which they soon put in the utmost disorder, and thus 
pave the way for an easy victory to their masters. These 
oxen are likewise instructed to guard the flocks, which they 
conduct with dexterity, and defend them from the attacks of 
strangers and of rapacious animals. They are taught to dis- 
tinguish friends from enemies, to understand signals, and to 
obey the commands of their master. When pasturing, at the 
smallest signal from the keeper, they bring back and collect 
the wandering animals. They attack all strangers with fury, 
which renders them a great security against robbers. These 
brackelays, as they are called, know every inhabitant of the 
kraal, and discover the same marks of respect for all the men, 
women, and children, as a dog does for those who live in his 
master's house. These people may, therefore, approach their 
cattle with the greatest safety. But if a stranger, and par- 
ticularly a European, should use the same freedom, without 
being accompanied with one of the Hottentots, his life would 
be in imminent danger. 

Notwithstanding the many surprising actions which different 
quadrupeds may be taught to perform, none of them, though 
their organs are much more perfect than those of birds, have 
ever been able to pronounce articulate sounds. But many 
birds, without much instruction, learn to pronounce words 
and even sentences. In parrots, the distinguishing accuracy 
of their ear, the acuteness of their attention, and their strong 
instinctive propensity to imitate sounds of every kind, hare 
justly procured them universal admiration. When in a state 
of domestication, the parrot learns to pronounce the commoa 
23 



266 DOCILITY OF ANIMALS. 

street calls, beside many words and phrases occasionally em- 
ployed by the family in which he resides. Though the limi- 
tation of his mental powers does not permit him to learn any 
extent of language, or the proper use and meaning of words, 
he not unfrequently discovers the association between the ob- 
ject and the sound. A woman every morning passed the win- 
dow, where a parrot's cage was fixed, calling salt. The parrot 
soon learned to imitate the call. But, before any sound could 
be heard, he no sooner cast his eye upon the woman than he 
uttered her usual call. In this and many other similar cases, 
the objects and the sounds are evidently connected in the 
minds of the animals. How far these associations might be 
carried by a patient and persevering education, it is difficult 
to determine. In this manner, however, parrots might be 
taught a considerable vocabulary of substantive nouns, or the 
proper names of common objects. But his intellect, it is more 
than probable, would never reach the use of the verb, and 
other parts of speech. 

Beside parrots, jays, &c, who learn to pronounce articu- 
late sounds, there is another race of birds whose docility de- 
serves to be mentioned. Singing birds, those lively and spirited 
little animals, attempt not to articulate. But their musical 
ears are as delicate and discerning as their voices are melo- 
dious and delightful. The vivacity, the extent of voice, and 
the imitative powers of these beautiful creatures, have at all 
times excited the attention and conciliated the affections of 
mankind. When domesticated, these birds, beside their nat- 
ural notes, soon acquire the faculty of singing considerable 
parts of artificial tunes. These imitations are effects of 
natural instinct. But in exhibitions, I have seen linnets 
simulate death, and remain perfectly tranquil and unmoved, 
when small cannons were fired, within an inch of their bodies, 
from a wooden fort. These little creatures have even been 
taught to lay hold of a match, and fire the cannons them- 
selves. 

We shall conclude this subject with a few remarks concern- 
ing the changes produced in animals by domestication. 

Climate and food are the chief causes which produce 
changes in the magnitude, figure, color, and constitution of 
wild animals. But, beside these causes, there are others 
which have an influence upon animals when reduced to a do- 
mestic or unnatural state. When at perfect liberty, animals 
seem to have selected those particular zones or regions of the 
globe, which are most consonant to the nature and constitu- 



DOCILITY OP ANIMALS. 267 

tion of each particular tribe. There they spontaneously re- 
main, and never, like man, disperse themselves»over the whole 
surface of the earth. But when obliged by man, or by any 
great revolution of nature, to abandon their native soil, they 
undergo changes so great, that, to recognize and distinguish 
them, recourse must be had to the most accurate examination. 
If we add to climate and food, those natural causes of alter- 
ation in free animals, the empire of man over such of them 
as he has reduced to servitude, the degree to which tyranny 
degrades and disfigures nature, will appear to be greatly aug- 
mented. The mouflon, the stock from which our domestic 
sheep have derived their origin, is comparatively a large ani- 
mal. He is as fleet as a stag, armed with horns and strong 
hoofs, and covered with coarse hair. With these natural ad- 
vantages, he dreads neither the inclemency of the sky, nor 
the voracity of the wolf. He not only, by the swiftness of 
his course, escapes from his enemies, but he is enabled to 
resist them by the strength of his body and the solidity of his 
arms. How different is this animal from our domestic sheep, 
who are timid, weak, and unable to defend themselves ! With- 
out the protection of man, the whole race would soon be extir- 
pated by rapacious animals and by winter storms. In the 
warmest climates of Africa and Asia, the mouflon, which is 
the common parent of the sheep, appears to be less degen- 
erated than in any other region. Though reduced to a do- 
mestic state, he has preserved his stature and his hair ; but 
the size of his horns is diminished. The sheep of Barbary, 
Egypt, Arabia, Persia, &,c, have undergone greater changes; 
and in proportion as they approach toward either pole, they 
diminish in size, in strength, in swiftness, and in courage. 
In relation to man, they are improved in some articles, and 
vitiated in others. Their coarse hair is converted into fine 
wool. But with regard to nature, improvement and degen- 
eration amount to the same thing ; for both imply an altera- 
tion of the original constitution. 

The ox is more influenced by nourishment than any other 
domestic animal. In countries where the pasture is luxuriant, 
the oxen acquire a prodigious size. To the oxen of ^Ethiopia 
and some provinces of Asia, the ancients gave the appella- 
tion of Bull- Elephants, because in these regions they ap- 
proach to the magnitude of the elephant. This effect is 
chiefly produced by the abundance of rich and succulent 
herbage. The Highlands of Scotland, and indeed every high 
and northern country, afford striking examples of the influ- 



268 DOCILITY OP ANIMALS. 

ence of food upon the magnitude of cattle. The oxen, as 
well as the horses, in the more northern parts of Scotland, 
are extremely diminutive ; but, when transported to richer 
pasture, their size is augmented, and the qualities of their 
flesh are improved. The climate has likewise a considerable 
influence on the nature of the ox. In the northern regions 
of both continents, he is covered with long, soft hair. He 
has likewise a large bunch on his shoulders ; and this deformi- 
ty is common to the oxen of Asia, Africa, and America. 
Those of Europe have no bunch. The European oxen, how- 
ever, seem to be the primitive race, to which the bunched 
kind ascend, by intermixture, in the second or third genera- 
tion. The difference in their size is remarkably great. The 
small zebu, or bunched ox of Arabia, is not one tenth part of 
the magnitude of the ^Ethiopian bull-elephant. 

The influence of food upon the dog kind seems not to be 
great. In all his variations and degradations, he appears to 
follow the differences of climate. In the warmest climates, 
he is naked; in the northern regions, he is covered with a 
coarse, thick hair ; and he is adorned with a fine, silky robe 
in Spain and Syria, where the mild temperature of the air 
converts the hair of most quadrupeds into a kind of silk. 
Besides these external variations produced by climate, the 
dog undergoes other changes, which proceed from his situa- 
tion, his captivity, and the nature of the intercourse he holds 
with man. His size is augmented or diminished by obliging 
the smaller kinds to unite together, and by observing the 
same conduct with the larger individuals. Pendulous ears, 
the most certain mark of domestic servitude and of fear, are 
almost universal. Of many races of dogs, a few only have 
retained the primitive state of their ears. Erect ears are now 
confined to the wolf-dog, the shepherd's dog, and the dog of 
the north. 

The color of animals is greatly variegated by domestica- 
tion. The dog, the ox, the sheep, the goat, the horse, have 
assumed all kinds of colors, and even mixtures of colors, in 
the same individuals. The hog has changed from black to 
white ; and white, without intermixture of spots, is generally 
accompanied with essential imperfections. Men who are re- 
markably fair, and wjiose hair is white, have generally a defect 
in their hearing, and, at the same time, weak and red eyes, 
Quadrupeds which are entirely white likewise have red eyes 
and a dulness of hearing.* The variations from the original 

* * The individuals known under the name of Albinoes are examples of the same 
sort of imperfection as that alluded to in the text with regard to animals. They have a 



COVERING OF ANIMALS. 269 

color are most remarkable in our domestic fowls. In a 
brood of chickens, though all of them proceed* from the same 
parents, not one of them has the same colors with another. 

Domestication not only changes the external appearances 
of animals, but alters and modifies their natural dispositions. 
The dog, for example, when in a state of liberty, is a rapa- 
cious quadruped, and hunts and devours the weaker species. 
But, after he has submitted to the dominion of man, he relin- 
quishes his natural ferocity, and is converted into a mean, 
servile, patient and parasitical slave. 



CHAPTER XIIL 

OF THE COVERING, MIGRATION, AND TORPIDITY OF ANIMALS. 

' Although man is naturally the most defenceless of ani- 
mals, and the most exposed to suffer from the attacks of cold 
and the rigors of inhospitable climates, yet, by the sagacity 
with which he has devised means of guarding against the 
vicissitudes of the seasons, and protecting himself against the 
various degrees of heat and cold which he encounters, he has 
been enabled to brave the dangers of every climate, and es- 
tablish himself over a great part of the globe. Neither the 
cold of the polar, nor the heat of the equatorial regions, has 
been sufficient to deter him ; but he is capable of enjoying 
the necessaries, comforts, and even luxuries of life, at either 
extreme. 

' But the constitutions of other animals are not so accom- 
modating. They do not adapt themselves so readily to 



skin of a peculiar and unnatural whiteness, white hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes. 
The iris is also of a rosy tint, and the pupils still more deeply red. This imperfection 
seems to consist in an entire absence of the coloring principle of all these parts, 
which leaves the bare texture of the parts themselves without any color except that 
of the fluid circulating in them. It occurs among all the varieties of mankind, but 
more commonly among the dark ones. Stories have been told of whole tribes of 
Albinoes, or white negroes, but they have proved unfounded. Some persons are 
only partially affected in this way, and thus present a spotted or pie-bald appearance^ 
and it is to be remarked that if the eyes or any part of the hair be included in any of 
the spots which remain in the natural state, they retain their natural color and ap- 
pearance. The same is the case with inferior animals, as may be frequently observed 
in the spotted, black, and white rabbits. The white rabbit is a true Albino, as is the 
white mouse, and they both have red eyes, unless the eyes happen to be included in 
a spot which remains in its natural state.' 

23* 



270 COVERING OF ANIMALS. 

changes in external circumstances, nor have they the sagacity 
to avail themselves of other means for protecting themselves 
from the influence of cold and heat. Each species of animals 
is generally confined to some particular portion of the earth, 
and it is with difficulty that many of them are made to sur- 
vive, for a long time, any great change of climate. To a 
certain extent, however, nature has provided means for ob- 
viating the bad effects which would be produced upon them 
by the different temperatures of the seasons and of different 
climates. These means are, a change in the quantity and 
color of the hair, fur, or feathers, with which they are cov- 
ered ; migration during the winter to. warmer climates ; or 
passing it in a state of torpidity. 

' In the colder regions of the earth, animals are covered 
with thick and warm fur. In the warm, they are only cloth- 
ed with hairs thinly scattered, or have a skin entirely naked. 
The contrast is more striking where the same kind of animals, 
or kinds closely resembling each other, inhabit different cli- 
mates. In the dogs of Guinea and in the African and Indian 
sheep, the fur is so thin that they may be almost denominated 
naked. In the Siberian dog and Iceland sheep, on the other 
hand, the body is protected by a thicker and longer covering. 
In the swine of warm countries, we find a covering of bristles, 
thinly scattered, and of a uniform size and texture ; but in 
colder countries, there is, beside this covering, another of 
fine, frizzled wool next to the skin, through which the bristles 
project. The elephant of the warm regions has scarcely any 
hair upon his body, whilst that species which is supposed to 
be now extinct, but to have formerly inhabited the northern 
parts of both continents, was clothed with a thick and warm 
fur ; as is proved from the discovery of a carcass which had 
been preserved in a frozen state, probably for some thousand 
years, in the ice of Siberia. 

1 In the same climate, the quantity of covering is accommo- 
dated to the alternations of the seasons. At the approach of 
winter, the hair is increased in quantity and in length, as may 
be observed in any of our domestic animals; and this increase 
is proportioned to the rigor and severity of the season. On 
the contrary, at the return of the warm season, the fur be- 
comes thin. Hence, those animals which are sought for the 
sake of their fur, must be hunted in the winter ; and it has 
been observed that, where the beginning of the season is 
mild, and the cold weather late in setting in, the hair is also 
backward, and that a few days of cold will produce a percep- 



COVERING OF ANIMALS. 271 

tible change in the rapidity of its growth. The moulting or 
casting of their plumage in birds furnishes examples to the 
same point. 

* Changes of color are not so common or so important. 
But in cold climates there are many striking instances of a 
complete change from a dark color to a white, both of fur 
and of plumage. The summer dress of the Alpine hare is of 
a tawny gray ; but, as winter approaches, it changes to a 
snowy whiteness, continues so until spring, and then resumes 
its tint of gray. The ermine, which in summer has a fur of 
a pale reddish brown, exhibits in winter a dazzling white. 
Among birds, a similar change takes place in a great num- 
ber of species, as in a variety of the smaller kinds known 
familiarly under the name of the snow-birds. 

' It is obvious, according to the known laws of the trans- 
mission of heat, how both these provisions concur towards 
maintaining, during the winter, a proper temperature in the 
bodies of animals. Animal heat is maintained, not by the 
influence of external causes, but by an internal principle. 
The object to be attained is, then, to prevent the escape of 
this heat to other bodies, and preserve it within the system. 
The increased thickness of the fur effects this purpose by 
obstructing its gradual transmission to the cold bodies around, 
and its color, by diminishing the degree of radiation, which 
is always less from light-colored than from dark substances. 
Upon the same principle, under ordinary circumstances, the 
thin covering and dark color are favorable to the comfort of 
the animal during summer, since they serve to keep down its 
temperature by carrying off all superabundant heat, both by 
gradual communication and by radiation.* 

1 The second method by which animals avoid the danger 
and suffering to which they would be exposed by the extremes 



* c The uncomfortable sensation of heat in summer arises not directly from the 
external heat, which is seldom so high as that of our bodies, but rather from the 
animal heat of the system itself, which is prevented by the high temperature of the 
atmosphere from being carried off as rapidly as usual, and hence becomes, as it 
were, accumulated. Whatever circumstances, therefore, favor either the radiation 
or transmission of heat, will contribute most to comfort ; and consequently a dark 
and thin covering, and one which is a good conductor, would seem to be most proper 
both for men and for other animals, under ordinary circumstances. Where there is. 
exposure, however, to the rays of the sun, the reverse would be true ; and this 
appears at least not to contradict experience. If these remarks are well founded, they 
obviously explain how the color of the negro is adapted to the regions he inhabits, 
by favoring the radiation of heat whenever the temperature of the air is below 
that of his body. And even in the depths of Africa, it is seldom that the ther- 
mometer will, for any length of time, indicate a degree of heat above that of our 
bodies.' 



272 MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 

of climate, is a periodical migration. In this way they are 
enabled to live throughout the year in a temperature conge- 
nial to their constitution, 

* The extensive and numerous migrations of birds have 
been noticed by mankind from time immemorial. They are 
accompanied by many circumstances of a curious and inter- 
esting nature, and have given rise to a good deal of speculation. 
The different species of swallow, in particular, have excited a 
large share of attention, and the place of their winter residence 
has been the subject of much doubt.' With regard to these 
birds, some naturalists are inclined to think that they do not 
leave the place of their summer residence at the end of autumn, 
but that they lie in a torpid state, till the beginning of summer, 
in the banks of rivers, the hollows of decayed trees, the re- 
cesses of old buildings, the holes of sand-banks, and in similar 
situations. That swallows, in the winter months, have some- 
times, though very rarely, been found in a torpid state, is un- 
questionably true. Neither is the inference, that, if any of 
them can survive the winter in that state, the whole of them 
may subsist, during the cold season, in the same condition, in 
the smallest degree unnatural. Still, however, the numbers of 
swallows which appear in Great Britain, as well as in all parts 
of Europe, during the summer months, are so very consid- 
erable, that if the great body of them did not migrate to some 
other climate, they would be much more frequently found in a 
torpid state. On the contrary, when a few of them are dis- 
covered in that state, it is regarded as a wonder even by the 
country people, who have the greatest opportunity of stum- 
bling upon facts of this kind. When, accordingly, a few 
swallows or martins are found torpid in winter, and have been 
revived by a gentle heat, the fact — and few such facts there 
are — is carefully recorded as singular in all the periodical 
publications of Europe. 

Instances of swallows and some other birds alighting on the 
masts and cordage of vessels, at considerable distances from 
any shore, are not so numerous as might be expected. Neither 
have they been often observed flying over seas in great flocks. 
Mr. Peter Collinson, in a letter printed in the Philosophical 
Transactions, says, " that Sir Charles Wager had frequently 
informed him, that in one of his voyages home in the spring, 
as he came into soundings in our channel, a great flock of 
swallows almost covered his rigging; that they were nearly 
spent and famished, and were only feathers and bones ; but, 
being recruited by a night's rest, they took their flight in the 
morning." 



MIGRATION OP ANIMALS. 273 

M. Adanson, in his voyage, informs us, that, about fifty 
leagues from the coast of Senegal, four swallows settled upon 
the ship, on the sixth day of October ; that these birds were 
taken ; and that he knew them to be the true swallows of Eu- 
rope, which he conjectures were then returning to the coast 
of Africa. Mr. Barrington,* with more probability, supposes 
that these swallows, instead of being on their passage from 
Europe, were only flitting from the Cape de Verde Islands to 
the continent of Africa, — a much shorter flight, but to which 
they seemed to be unequal, as they were obliged, from fatigue, 
to light upon the ship, and fall into the hands of the sailors. 

Swallows, Mr. Kalm remarks, appear in the Jerseys about 
the beginning of April, and are, ori the first arrival, wet, be- 
cause they have just emerged from the sea or lakes, at the 
bottom of which they had remained in a torpid state during 
the whole winter. But Mr. Kalm, who wishes to support the 
torpidity of swallows during the winter, likewise informs us 
that he himself met with them at sea, nine hundred and twenty 
miles from any land. 

These and similar facts, Mr. Barrington endeavors to ex- 
plain, by supposing that birds discovered in such situations, 
instead of attempting to cross large branches of the ocean, 
have been forcibly driven from some coasts by storms, and 
that they would naturally perch upon the first vessel which 
came within their view. 

In Great Britain, five species of swallows appear in sum- 
mer and disappear in winter. 1. The house-swallows make 
their appearance about twenty days earlier than the martin, 
or any other of the swallow tribe. They are often seen about 
the 13th day of April. They disappear about the end of 
September. A few days previous to their departure, they 
assemble in great flocks on the tops of houses, churches, and 
trees, from whence they are supposed to take their flight. 
This unusual and temporary association of numbers indicates 
the impulse of some common instinct by which each individ- 
ual is actuated. The house-swallow is easily distinguished 
from the other species by the superior forkiness of its tail, 
and by a red spot on the forehead, and under the chin. This 
species builds in chimneys, and makes its nest of clay, but 
leaves the top quite open. % The martin is inferior in size 
to the former, and its tail is much less forked. The martins 



* Essay on the periodical appearing and disappearing of certain birds at different 
times of the year.— Phil. Trans, Vol. LXII. 



274 MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 

appear in Britain soon after the house-swallow, They ouild 
under the eaves of houses. The nest is composed of the 
same materials as those of the house-swallow ; but it is cov- 
ered above, and a small hole only is left in the side for the 
ingress and egress of the birds. The martins totally disap- 
pear about the beginning of October. 3. The sand-martin, 
or bank-martin, is by much the smallest of the swallow kind 
that visit Britain. The sand-martins arrive very soon after 
the house-swallow, and disappear about Michaelmas. They 
dig considerable holes in sand-pits and in the banks of rivers, 
where they build their nests, which consist not of mud, like 
those of the former species, but of grass and feathers laid 
together in a very slovenly manner. It is worthy of remark, 
that these birds do not employ the cavities they dig in sum- 
mer for winter quarters ; since sand-banks, so perforated, 
have been carefully searched in the winter, and nothing found 
but empty nests. 4. The swift, or black-martin of Willough- 
by, is the largest of these swallows, and is the latest in arriving 
in the country ; for the swifts are seldom seen till the begin- 
ning of May, and commonly appear, not in flocks, but in 
pairs. Swifts, like the sand-martins, carry on the business 
of incubation in the dark. They build in the crannies of 
castles, towers, and steeples. Straw and feathers are the 
materials they use. They disappear very early ; for they are 
almost never seen after the middle of August. 5. The goat- 
sucker, which belongs to the swallow tribe, is likewise a bird 
of passage. Like the other swallows, it feeds upon winged 
insects. But, instead of pursuing its prey during the day, it 
flies only in the night, and seizes moths and other nocturnal 
insects. From this circumstance, it has not improperly re- 
ceived the appellation of the nocturnal swallow. The goat- 
sucker stays only a short time in Britain. It appears not till 
about the end of May, and retires in the middle of August. 
It lays its eggs, which are commonly two and sometimes 
three, on the bare ground. 

Herodotus and Prosper Alpinus mention one species of 
swallow which resides in Egypt during the whole year ; and 
Mr. Loten, late governor of Ceylon, assured Mr. Pennant, that 
those of Java never remove. If these be excepted, all the 
other known kinds retreat or migrate periodically. Swallows 
migrate from almost every climate. They remove from Nor- 
way, from North America, from Kamtschatka, from the tem- 
perate parts of Europe, from Aleppo, and from Jamaica. 

Concerning the periodical appearance and disappearance 



MIGRATION OP ANIMALS. 275 

of swallows, there are three opinions adopted by different 
naturalists. The first and most probable is, tm\t they remove 
from climate to climate at those particular seasons when 
winged insects, their natural food, fail in one country or dis- 
trict and abound in another, where they likewise find a tem- 
perature of air better suited to their constitutions. In support 
of this opinion, we have the testimony, as formerly mentioned, 
of Sir Charles Wager, of M. Adanson, and of many navigators. 
It is equally true, however, that some species of swallows 
have been occasionally found in a torpid state during the winter. 
Mr. Collinson gives the evidence of three gentlemen who 
were eye-witnesses to a number of sand-martins being drawn 
out of a cliff on the Rhine in the month of March, 1762. Mr. 
Barrington, in the year 1768, communicated to Mr. Pennant, 
on the authority of the late Lord Bellhaven, the following 
fact : " That numbers of swallows have been found in old dry 
walls, and in sand-hills, near his lordship's seat in East 
Lothian ; not once only, but from year to year ; and that, 
when they were exposed to the warmth of a fire, they revived." 
These, and other facts of the same kind, seem to be incon- 
trovertible ; and Mr. Pennant infers from them, that " we must 
divide our belief relating to these two so different opinions, 
and conclude, that one part ef the swallow tribe migrates, and 
that others have their winter quarters near home." But we 
should rather incline to think with those naturalists who sup- 
pose that the torpid swallows which are occasionally, though 
very rarely, discovered in the winter season, have been obliged 
to remain behind, because they were too young, weak, dis- 
eased, or superannuated, to undertake a long and fatiguing 
flight. Still, however, that the torpidity of the feathered 
tribes should be solely confined to the swallow, is a very 
singular fact in the history of nature. Among quadrupeds, 
there are many species who lie in a dormant or torpid state 
during winter. But, if the swallow be excepted, not a single 
species of birds, notwithstanding the great numbers, which, 
at stated times, appear and disappear in every corner of the 
globe, has ever been discovered in that state. This circum- 
stance alone, though we cannot yet ascertain the precise 
places to which different species of birds of passage resort, 
is a most convincing proof of migration in general. 

It has been asserted, and even believed, by some natural- 
ists, that swallows pass the winter immersed under the ice, at 
the bottom of lakes, or beneath the waters of the sea. Olaus 
Magnus, Archbishop of Upsal, seems to have been the first 



270 MIGRATION OF ANIMALS, 

who adopted this opinion. He informs us, that swallows are 
found in great clusters at the bottoms of the northern lakes, 
with mouth to mouth, wing to wing, foot to foot, and that in 
autumn they creep down the reeds to their subterraneous re- 
treats. " That the good archbishop," Mr. Pennant archly 
remarks, " did not want credulity in other instances, appears 
from this, that, after having stocked the bottoms of the lakes 
with birds, he stores the clouds with mice, which sometimes 
fall in plentiful showers on Norway and the neighboring 
countries ! " Klein has endeavored to support the notion 
that swallows lie under the water during the winter, and gives 
the following account of their manner of retiring, which he 
collected from some countrymen. They asserted, he tells us, 
that the swallows sometimes assembled in numbers on a reed 
till it broke and sunk them to the bottom ; that their immer- 
sion was preceded by a kind of, dirge, which lasted more 
than a quarter of an hour ; that others united, laid hold of a 
straw with their bills, and plunged down in society ; that oth- 
ers, by clinging together with their feet, formed a large mass, 
and in this manner committed themselves to the deep. 

Two reasons seem to render this supposed submersion of 
swallows impossible. In the first place, no land animal can 
exist so long without some degree of respiration. The otter, 
the seal, and water-fowls of all kinds, when confined under 
the ice, or entangled in nets, soon perish ; yet it is well 
known, that animals of this kind can remain much longer 
under water than those which are destitute of that peculiar 
structure of the heart which is necessary for any considerable 
residence beneath that penetrating element. Mr. John Hun- 
ter, in a letter to Mr. Pennant, informs us, " That he had dis- 
sected many swallows, but found nothing in them different 
from other birds as to the organs of respiration ; that all those 
animals which he had dissected of the class that sleep during 
winter, such as lizards, frogs, &c, had a very different con- 
formation as to these organs; that all those animals, he be- 
lieves, do breathe in their torpid state ; and, as far as his ex- 
perience reaches, he knows they do ; and that, therefore, he 
esteems it a very wild opinion, that terrestrial animals can 
remain any long time under water without drowning." An- 
other argument against their submersion arises from the 
specific gravity of the animals themselves. Of all birds, the 
swallow tribes are perhaps the lightest. Their plumage, and 
the comparative smallness of their weight, indicate that na- 
ture destined them to be almost perpetually on the wing in 



MIGRATION 0$ ANIMALS. 27t 

quest of food. From this specific lightness, the submersion 
of swallows, and their continuing for months under water, 
amount to a physical impossibility. Even water-fowls, when 
they wish to dive, are obliged to rise and plunge with con- 
siderable exertion, in order to overcome the resistance of the 
water, Klein's idea of swallows employing reeds and straws 
as means of submersion is rather ludicrous • for these light 
substances* instead of being proper instruments for assisting 
them to reach the bottom, would infallibly contribute to sup- 
port them on the surface, and prevent the very object of their 
intention. Besides, admitting the possibility of their reach- 
ing the bottom of lakes and seas, and supposing they could 
exist for several months without respiration, what would be 
the consequence ? The whole would soon be devoured by 
otters, seals, and fishes of various kinds* Nature is always 
anxious for the preservation of species. But, if the swallow 
tribes were destined to remain torpid, during the winter 
months, at the bottom of lakes and seas, she would act in op- 
position to her own intentions ; for, in a season or two, the 
whole genus would be annihilated. 

Mr. White of Selborne has favored us with the following 
information concerning the migration of swallows. " If ever 
I saw," says he, " any thing like actual emigration, it was last 
Michaelmas day, 1768. I was travelling, and out early in the 
morning ; at first there was a vast fog ; but by the time that 
I was got seven or eight miles from home towards the coast, 
the sun broke out into a delicate warm day. We were then 
on a large heath or common, and I could discern, as the mist 
began to break away, great numbers of swallows clustering 
on the stinted shrubs and bushes, as if they had roosted there 
all night. As soon as the air became clear and pleasant, they 
all were on the wing at once, and by a placid and easy flight, 
proceeded on southward towards the sea. After this I did 
not see any more flocks, only now and then a straggler. 
When I used to rise in a morning last autumn, and see the 
swallows and martins clustering on the chimneys and thatch 
of the neighboring cottages, I could not help being touched 
with secret delight, mixed with some degree of mortification ; 
with delight, to observe with how much ardor and punctual- 
ity those poor little birds obeyed the strong impulse towards 
migration, or hiding, imprinted on their minds by their great 
Creator ; and with some degree of mortification, when I re- 
flected, that after all our pains and inquiries, we are yet not 
quite certain to what regions they do migrate ; and are still 
24 



278 MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 

further embarrassed to find, that some do not actually mi- 
grate at all." 

In another part of his work, Mr. White says : " But we must 
not deny migration in general ; because migration certainly 
does subsist in some places, as my brother in Andalusia has 
fully informed me. Of the motions of these birds he has ocu- 
lar demonstration, for many weeks together, both spring and 
fall ; during which periods, myriads of the swallow kind 
traverse the straits from north to south, and from south to north, 
according to the season. And these vast migrations consist 
not only of swallows, but of bee-birds, hoopoes, oropendulos or 
golden thrushes, &c. &,c, and also many of our soft-billed 
summer birds of passage, and, moreover, of birds which never 
leave us, such as all the various sorts of hawks and kites. Old 
Belon, two hundred years ago, gives a curious account of the 
incredible armies of hawks and kites which he saw in the 
spring time traversing the Thracian Bosphorus from Asia to 
Europe. Besides the above mentioned, he remarks that the 
procession is swelled by whole troops of eagles and vultures." 

" The swallow," says Dr. Fleming, in his Philosophy of 

Zoology, " about whose migrations so many idle stories have 

been propagated and believed, departs from Scotland about 

the end of September, and from England about the middle of 

Qctober. In the latter month, M. Adanson observed them on 

* ... 

the shores of Africa, after their migrations from Europe, He 

informs us, however, that they do not build their nests in that 
country, but only come to spend the winter. M. Prelong has 
not only confirmed the observations of Adanson in reference 
to swallows, but has stated at the same time, that the yellow 
and gray wagtails visit Senegal at the beginning of winter. 
The former (motacilla flava) is well known as one of our sum- 
mer visitants. The nightingale departs from England about 
the beginning of October, and from the other parts of Europe 
about the same period. During the winter season, it is found 
in abundance in lower Egypt, among the thickest coverts, in 
different parts of the Delta. These birds do not breed in that 
country, and to the inhabitants are merely winter birds of 
passage. They arrive in autumn and depart in spring, and at 
the time of migration are plentiful in the islands of the Archi- 
pelago. The quail is another of our summer guests, which 
has been traced to Africa. A few, indeed, brave the winters 
of England, and in Portugal they appear to be stationary. 
But in general they leave this country in autumn, and return 
in spring. They migrate about the same time from the east- 



MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 279 

ern parts of the continent of Europe, and visit and revisit in 
their migrations the shores of the Mediterranean, Sicily, and 
the islands of the Archipelago." 

1 Beside those birds which retire in the winter from tem- 
perate to more southern climates, there are many others which 
spend the summer in the northern regions, and seek a milder 
residence during the winter in the same countries from which 
the former have migrated. Thus in every country or district 
a double migration takes place. There are two sets of birds, 
one which frequents it in the summer and another in the win- 
ter. The former are called summer birds of passage, the lat- 
ter, winter birds of passage. The summer residence of the 
birds of passage, which frequent temperate climates in the 
winter, is not always known, but many of them have been 
traced to northern countries. The snow-buntings, which are 
common in Great Britain during the winter, retreat in the 
summer to the polar regions of Spitzbergen, Lapland, and 
Greenland, where they pair and produce their offspring.' Mar- 
tin, in his History of the Hebrides, or Western Isles, informs 
us, that wild swans arrive in great numbers in Lingey, one 
of the Hebrides, in the month of October, and remain there 
till March, when they retire more northward to breed. For 
this purpose, the swans, like most other water-fowls, prefer 
such places as are least frequented by mankind. During sum- 
mer, the lakes, marshes, and forests of Lapland are filled with 
myriads of water-fowls. In that northern region, swans, geese, 
the duck tribe, goosanders, divers, &c, pass the summer; 
but in autumn they return to more hospitable shores. 

The wild goose, which breeds in the most retired regions 
of the north, arrives in temperate regions at the beginning 
of winter, and departs early in the spring. Their periodical 
movements are familiar to all. They fly at a great height, 
and observe the utmost regularity in all their movements. 
Many birds of the duck kind are also winter birds of passage. 
They are found in great abundance upon the shores, islands, 
and rivers of the temperate regions during the cold months ; 
but, on the approach of summer, migrate to Lapland, Greenland, 
and Spitzbergen. 

The solan geese, or gannets, are birds of passage, which 
pass their summer and breed upon the most northern shores 
and islands of Scotland. The multitudes which frequent 
these places are prodigious. " There is," says a writer who 
has given some account of them, " a small island in the Frith 
of Forth, called the Bass Island, which does not exceed a mile 



280 MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 

in circumference. The surface of this island, during the 
months of May and June, is so entirely covered with nests, 
eggs, and young birds, that it is scarcely possible to walk 
without treading on them. The flocks of birds on the wing 
are so prodigious that they darken the air like clouds, and 
their noise is so great, that a man cannot without difficulty 
hear his neighbor's voice. If, from the top of the precipice, 
you look down upon the sea, you will see it on every side 
covered with infinite numbers of birds of different kinds, swim- 
ming about and hunting for their prey. When sailing round 
the island, if you survey the hanging cliffs, you will perceive, 
in every crag or fissure of the rocks, innumerable birds of 
various kinds, more than the stars of heaven in a serene night. 
If you view the distant flocks, either flying to, or from the 
island, you will imagine them to be a vast swarm of bees." 
The rocks of St. Kilda seem to be equally frequented by 
solan geese ; for Martin, in his description of the Hebrides, 
informs us, that the inhabitants of this small island consume 
annually no less than 22,600 young birds, of this species, beside 
an amazing number of their eggs. The solan geese and their 
eggs constitute the chief food of these islanders. They pre- 
serve both the fowls and the eggs in small pyramidal stone 
buildings, which, to protect the food from moisture, they 
cover with the ashes of turf. The solan geese are birds of 
passage. Their first appearance is in March, and they con- 
tinue till August or September. But, in general, the times of 
their breeding and departure seem to coincide with the arrival 
of the herring, and the migration of that fish from our coasts. 
It is more than probable that these birds attend the herrings 
and pilchards during their whole circuit round the British 
islands ; for the appearance of the solan geese is always es- 
teemed by the fishermen as a certain presage of the approach 
of the herrings or pilchards. In quest of food, these birds 
migrate as far south as the mouth of the Tagus : for they are 
frequently seen off Lisbon during the month of December. 

The various species of curlew, woodcocks, sandpipers, and 
plovers, which pass the winter in Great Britain, retire in the 
spring to Sweden, Poland, Prussia, Norway, and Lapland, 
both to feed and to breed. They return as soon as the young 
are able to fly ; because the frosts, which set in early in these 
countries, totally deprive them of the means of subsistence. 
For the same reason they take their departure in summer, as 
the dryness and hardness of the ground prevent them from 
penetrating the earth with their bills, in quest of worms 3 
which constitute their natural food. 



MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 281 

Prom the facts which have been enumerated, and from 
others of a similar nature, it is evident, that many birds, both 
of the land and water kinds, migrate from one climate to 
another. But, even in the same climate and country, birds 
occasionally perform partial migrations. During hard winters, 
when the surface of the earth is covered with snow, many 
birds, as larks, snipes, &>c, retire from the inland parts of the 
country to the sea-shores, where they pick up a scanty sub- 
sistence. Others, as the wren, the redbreast, and many of 
the small birds, or sparrow kind, resort to gardens, and the 
habitations of men. Their intention, it is obvious, is to pro- 
cure food and shelter. 

There are three principal objects of migration ; food, tem- 
perature of air, and convenient situations for breeding. Such 
birds as migrate to great distances are alone denominated 
bii'ds of passage. But all birds are, in some measure, birds 
of passage, though they do not migrate to places so remote 
from their former abodes. At particular times of the year, 
most birds migrate from one country to another, or from the 
more inland districts toward the shores. These partial migra- 
tions of small birds are well known to bird-catchers, who make 
a livelihood by ensnaring them into their nets, and selling 
them. The birds fly, as the bird-catchers term it, about the 
end of September, and during the months of October and 
November. There is another, but less considerable flight, in 
March. Some begin their flight annually about Michaelmas; 
others, as the woodlarks, succeed and continue their flight 
till the middle of October ; but the greenfinch does not mi- 
grate till the frost obliges it to remove in quest of food and 
shelter. These partial migrations, or flittings, are performed 
from daybreak till noon. Another, but smaller flight, com- 
mences at two o'clock, and continues till night approaches. 
The times when particular birds migrate from one situation 
to another are well known to the bird-catchers, who, by means 
of call-birds, nets, and other devices, seize great numbers of 
them, and after accustoming them for some time to restraint 
and slavery, sell them for considerable prices to curious men 
and whimsical women. A diligent attention to these partial 
migrations, and their motives, would soon unfold the causes 
of those of a more extensive kind. 

' Migrating birds, before they take their departure, in gen- 
eral collect together in flocks, and many of them are known 
to perform their migrations in company, and to form large and 
regularly-arranged flocks on their route. Swallows are well 
24* 



282 MIGRATION OP ANIMALS, 

known to assemble in immense numbers before the period of 
their migration. Some birds, however, have never been ob- 
served to gather together previous to their departure. The 
males of many species appear to perform their migrations a 
few days before the females. This is remarkably the case 
with the nightingale. Others depart during the night. In 
short, the habits of birds, with regard to their migrations, differ 
according to their characters and habits in other respects. 

' It has been objected to the migration of birds, that it is 
impossible they should support themselves so long upon the 
wing, or exist so long without food, as they must probably do 
in performing such long journeys as migration supposes. 
" But these difficulties," says Dr. Fleming, " vanish altogether 
when we attend to the rapidity of the flight of birds. The 
rapidity with which a hawk and many other birds occasionally 
fly, is probably not less than at the rate of 150 miles an hour. 
Major Cartwright, on the coast of Labrador, found, by repeated 
observations, that the flight of an eider duck was at the 
rate of 90 miles an hour. Sir George Cayley computes the 
rate of flight, even of the common crow, at nearly 25 miles 
an hour ; and Spallanzani found that of the swallow com- 
pleted about 92 miles, while he conjectures that the rapidity 
of the swift is nearly three times greater. A falcon, which 
belonged to Henry IV. of France, escaped from Fontainbleau, 
and in 24 hours was found at Malta, a distance of 1350 miles ; 
a velocity nearly equal to 57 miles an hour, supposing the 
falcon to have been upon the wing the whole time. But as 
such birds never fly by night, and allowing the day to be at 
the longest, his flight was perhaps equal to 75 miles an hour. 
It is probable, however, that he neither had so many hours of 
light in the twenty-four, to perform his journey, nor that he 
was retaken the moment of his arrival. But if we even re- 
strict the migratory flight of birds to the rate of 50 miles an 
hour, how easily can they perform their most extensive migra- 
tions ! and we know, in the case of woodcocks, and perhaps 
all other migrating birds, that they in general take advantage 
of a fair wind with which to perform their flights. This 
breeze perhaps aids them at the rate of 30 or 40 miles an hour; 
nay, with three times greater rapidity, even in a moderate 
breeze, if we are to give credit to the statement of aerial nav- 
igators, who seem to consider the rate of the motion of winds 
as in general stated too low." If this be true, the movements 
of birds in their migrations may be performed with little dif- 
ficulty; for even those that execute their journeys at one 



MIGRATION OF ANIMALS* 283 

flight, if there be any that do so, may do it in a very short 
time, perhaps a day, by the help of a favorable wind.' 

Migration is often supposed to be peculiar to the feathered 
tribes. This is a limited idea, which has originated from in- 
attention to the economy of nature, Birds migrate with a 
view to remedy the inconveniences of their present situation, 
and to acquire a more commodious station with regard to 
food, temperature, generation, and shelter. From similar 
motives, men, sometimes in amazing multitudes, have migra- 
ted from north to south, displaced the native inhabitants, and 
fixed establishments in more comfortable climates than those 
which they had relinquished, These, in their turn, have 
fallen victims to fresh and barbarous emigrants. Among the 
inhabitants of the more northern nations, as Norway, Sweden, 
Scotland, &c, notwithstanding a very strong attachment to 
their native countries, there seems to be a natural or instinc- 
tive propensity to migrate. Poverty, the rigor of the climate, 
curiosity, ambition, the false representations of interested 
individuals, the oppression of feudal barons, and similar cir- 
cumstances, have given rise to great emigrations of the human 
species. But it is worthy of remark, that the emigrations 
from south to north, except from the love of conquest in am- 
bitious nations, are so rare, that the instinct seems hardly to 
exist in those more fortunate climates. Curiosity is a general 
instinctive principle, which operates strongly in the youthful 
periods of life, and stimulates every man to visit places that 
are distant from his ordinary residence. This innate desire 
is influenced by the relations of travellers, and by many other 
incentives of a more interested kind. Without the principle 
of migration, mankind, it is probable, would never have been 
so universally diffused over the surface of the earth. It is 
counterbalanced, however, by attachment to those countries 
which gave us birth — a principle still more powerful and effi- 
cient. Love of our native country is so strong, that, after 
gratifying the migrating principle, almost every man feels a 
longing desire to return. 

Savages, as long as their store of food remains unexhaust- 
ed, continue in a listless, inactive state. They exhaust many 
days sitting in perfect indolence, and seem not to be prompted 
by any motives of curiosity. They have not a conception 
of a man's walking either for amusement or exercise. But 
when their provisions begin to fail, an astonishing reverse 
takes place. They then rouse as from a profound sleep. In 
quest of wild beasts, birds, and fishes, they migrate to im- 



284 MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 

mense distances, exert the greatest feats of activity, and un- 
dergo incredible hardships and fatigue. After acquiring a 
store of provisions, they return to their wonted haunts, and 
remain inactive till their food again begins to fail. 

' There are but few quadrupeds which perform migrations, 
and these are generally limited in their extent to different 
parts of the same country. A few species, however, which 
have faculties for more extensive locomotion, perform more 
extensive migrations. Thus some of the bats of England 
spend their winters in Italy in a torpid state ; and the seal, 
which frequents the shores of Greenland during the summer, 
removes at the approach of cold weather to the south, and 
spends the winter in the neighborhood of Iceland. ' 

At the approach of winter, the stag, the reindeer, and the 
roebuck, leave the tops of the lofty mountains and come down 
to the plains and copses. Their chief objects in these flittings 
are food and shelter. When summer commences, they are 
harassed with different species of winged insects, and to avoid 
these enemies, they regain the summits of the mountains, 
where the cold and the height of the situation protect them 
from the attacks of the flies. In Norway, and the more north- 
ern regions of Europe, the oxen, during the winter, migrate 
to the shores of the sea, where they feed upon sea-plants and 
the bones of fishes ; and Pontoppidan remarks, that the cattle 
know by instinct when the tide retires and leaves these articles 
of food upon the shore. In Orkney and Shetland, the sheep 
in winter, for the same purposes, uniformly repair to the shore 
at the ebbing of the tides. Rats, particularly those of the 
northern regions of Europe, appear, from time to time, in such 
myriads, that the inhabitants of Norway and Lapland imagine 
the animals fall from heaven. The celebrated Linnaeus, who 
paid great attention to the economy of these migrating rats, 
remarked, that they appeared in Sweden periodically, every 
eighteen or twenty years. When about to migrate, they leave 
their wonted abodes, and assemble together in numbers incon- 
ceivable. In the course of their journey, they make tracks 
in the earth of two inches in depth ; and these tracks some- 
times occupy a breadth of several fathoms. What is singular, 
the rats, in their march, uniformly pursue a straight line, 
unless they are forced to turn aside by some insurmountable 
obstacle. If they meet with a rock, they first try to pierce 
it, and, after discovering the attempt to be impracticable, 
they go round it, and then resume the straight line. Even a 
lake does not interrupt their passage ; for they either traverse 



MIGRATION OF ANIMALS, 285 

it in a straight line or perish in the attempt ; and, if they 
meet with a bark or other vessel, they do riot alter their 
direction, but climb up the one side of it, *nd descend by 
the other. 

Frogs, immediately after their transformation from the tad- 
pole state, leave the water, and migrate to the meadow or 
marshy grounds in quest of insects. The number of young 
frogs which suddenly make their appearance in the plains, 
induced Ronduletius, and many other naturalists, to imagine 
that they were generated in the clouds and showered down 
upon the earth. But if, like the worthy and intelligent Dr. 
Derham, they had examined the situation of the place with 
regard to stagnating waters, and attended to the nature and 
transformation of the animals, they would soon have discov- 
ered the real cause of the phenomenon. 

Of all migrating animals, particular kinds of fishes make 
the longest journeys, and in the greatest numbers. The mul- 
tiplication of the species, and the procuring of food, are the 
principal motives of the migration of fishes. The salmon, a 
fish which makes regular migrations, frequents the northern 
regions alone. It is unknown in the Mediterranean Sea, and 
in the rivers which fall into it both from Europe and Africa. 
It is found in some of the rivers of France that empty them- 
selves into the ocean. Salmons are taken in tho rivers of 
Kamtschatka, and appear as far north as Greenland. They 
are found in many of the rivers of the United States, and 
ascend and descend the river Columbia in immense and almost 
incredible shoals. The Indians around this river preserve 
them in a dried state, and make them a principal article of 
food. Salmons live both in the ocean and in fresh waters. 
For the purpose of depositing their spawn, they quit the sea 
in the month of September, and ascend the rivers. So strong 
is the instinct of migrating, that they press up the rivers with 
amazing keenness, and scarcely any obstacle is sufficient to 
interrupt their progress. They spring, with great agility, 
over cataracts of several feet in height. In their leaps, they 
spring straight up with a strong, tremulous motion, and do not, 
as has been vulgarly supposed, put their tails in their mouths. 
When they find a place which they think proper for depos- 
iting their eggs, the male and female unite their labors in 
forming a convenient receptacle for the spawn in the sand, 
which is generally about eighteen inches deep. The eggs, 
when not disturbed by violent floods, lie buried in the sand 
till the spring, and they are hatched about the end of March. 



286 MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 

The parents, however, after this important office has been 
performed, hasten back to the sea. Toward the end of March, 
the young fry begin to appear, and they gradually increase in 
size till they acquire the length of four or five inches. About 
the beginning of May, all the considerable rivers of Scotland 
are full of salmon fry. After this period, they migrate to the 
sea. About the middle of June, the earliest of the fry begin 
to appear again in the rivers. At that time they are from 
twelve to sixteen inches long, and gradually augment, both in 
number and size, till about the end of July or the beginning 
of August, when they weigh from six to nine pounds. This 
is a very rapid growth. But a gentleman of credit at War- 
rington informed Mr. Pennant of a growth still more rapid. 
A salmon, weighing seven pounds and three quarters, was 
taken on the 7th day of February. It was marked on the 
back, fin, and tail, with scissors, and then turned into the 
river. It was retaken on the 17th day of the following month 
of March, and then it weighed seventeen pounds and a half. 
The season for fishing salmon in the Tweed begins on the 
30th of November, and ends on old Michaelmas day. In that 
single river, it is computed that no less than two hundred and 
eight thousand, at a medium, are annually caught, which, to- 
gether with the products of many other rivers on both sides of 
Scotland, not only afford a wholesome and palatable food to 
the inhabitants, but form no inconsiderable article of commerce, 
Herrings are likewise actuated by the migrating principle. 
These fishes are chiefly confined to the northern and temper- 
ate regions of the globe. They frequent the highest latitudes, 
and are sometimes found on the northern coast of France . 
They appear in vast shoals on the coast of America, as far 
south as Carolina. In Chesapeake Bay there is an annual 
inundation of herrings; and Mr. Catesby informs us, that they 
cover the shores in such amazing numbers as to become offen- 
sive to the inhabitants. The great winter rendezvous of the 
nerrings is within, or near, the Arctic Circle, where they re- 
main several months, and acquire strength after being weak- 
ened by the fatigues of spawning, and of a long migration. 
In these seas, food is much more abundant than in warmer 
latitudes. They begin their migration southward in the 
spring, and appear off the Shetland Islands in the months of 
April and May. These, however, are only the forerunners of 
the immense shoal which arrives in June. Their approach 
is recognized by particular signs, such as the appearance of 
certain fishes, the vast number of birds, as gannets or solan ! 



MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. S8T 

! geese, which follow the shoal to prey upon the herrings. 

: But, when the main body arrives, its breadth and depth are 
so great as to change the appearance of the ocean itself. 
The shoal is generally divided into columns of five or six 

I miles in length, and three or four in breadth. Their progres- 
sive motion creates a kind of rippling or small undulations in 
the water. They sometimes sink and disappear for ten or 

i fifteen minutes, and then rise again toward the surface. 
When the sun shines, a variety of splendid and beautiful 
colors are reflected from their bodies. In their progress 
southward, the first interruption they meet with is from the 
Shetland Islands. Here the shoal divides into two branches. 
One branch skirts the eastern, and the other the western 
shores of Great Britain, and fill every bay and creek with 
their numbers. Those which proceed to the west from Shet- 
land, after visiting the Hebrides, where the great fishery is 
carried on, move on till they are again interrupted by the 
north of Ireland, which obliges them to divide a second time. 
One division takes to the west, where they are scarcely per- 
ceived, being soon lost in the immensity of the Atlantic 
Ocean. The other division goes into the Irish Sea, and 
affords nourishment to many thousands of the human race. 
The chief object of herrings migrating southward is to deposit 
their spawn in warmer and more shallow seas than those of 
the frigid zone. This instinct seems not to be prompted by 
a scarcity of food ; for, when they arrive upon our coasts, 
they are fat and in fine condition ; but, when returning to the 
ocean, they are weak and emaciated. They continue in per- 
fection from the end of June to the beginning of winter, when 
they begin to deposit their spawn. The great stations of the 
herring fisheries are off the Shetland and the Western Islands, 

I and along the coast of Norfolk. 

Beside salmons and herrings, there are many fishes which 

| observe a regular migration, as mackerels, lampreys, pilchards, 
&c. About the middle of July, the pilchards, which are a 
species of herrings, though smaller, appear in vast shoals off 
the coasts of Cornwall. When winter approaches, like the 
herrings, they retire to the Arctic seas. Though so nearly 
allied to the herring, it is not incurious to remark, that the 
pilchards, in their migration for the purpose of spawning, 
choose a warmer latitude. 

Of the land-crab there are several species. The migration 

I of what is called the violet land-crab deserves some notice. 

! It inhabits the warmer regions of Europe, but its particular 



288 MIGRATION OF ANIHALS, 

residence Is in the tropical climates of Africa and America, 
Land-crabs generally frequent the mountainous parts of the 
country, which are, of course, most remote from the sea. 
They inhabit the hollows of old trees, the clefts of rocks, and 
holes which they themselves dig in the earth. They are ex- 
tremely numerous. In the months of April and May, they 
leave their retreats in the mountains, and march in millions 
to the seashore. At this period the whole ground is covered 
with them, and a man can hardly put down his foot without 
treading upon them. The object of their migration is to de- 
posit their spawn on the seashore. In their progress toward 
the sea, like the northern rats, the land-crabs move in a straight 
line. Even when a house intervenes, instead of deviating to 
the right or left, they attempt to scale the walls. But, when 
they meet with a river, they are obliged to wind along the 
course of the stream. In their migration from the mountains, 
they observe the greatest regularity, and commonly divide 
into three battalions, or bodies. The first consists of the 
strongest and boldest males, who, like pioneers, march for- 
ward to clear the route, and face the greatest dangers. The 
females, who form the main body, descend from the mountains 
in regular columns, which are fifty paces broad, three miles 
long, and so close that they almost entirely cover the ground. 
Three or four days afterwards, the rearguard follows, which 
consists of a straggling, undisciplined troop of males and 
females. They travel chiefly during the night; but, if it rains 
by day (for moisture facilitates their motion), they proceed in 
their slow, uniform manner. When the sun shines, and the 
surface of the ground is dry, they make a universal halt till 
evening, and then resume their march. When alarmed with 
danger, they run backward in a disorderly manner, and hold 
up their nippers in a threatening posture. They even seem 
to intimidate their enemies ; for, when disturbed, they make 
a clattering noise with their nippers. But, though they en- 
deavor to render themselves formidable to their enemies, 
they are cruel to each other. When an individual, by any 
accident, is so maimed that he cannot proceed, his compan- 
ions immediately devour him, and then pursue their journey, 
After a fatiguing and tedious march, which sometimes con- 
tinues three months before they reach the shore, they prepare 
themselves for depositing their spawn. The eggs still remain 
in the bodies of the animals, and are not excluded, as usual 
to this genus, under the tail. To facilitate the maturation and 
exclusion of the eggs, the land-crabs no sooner arrive on the 



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MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 289 

shore, than they approach to the margin of the sea and allow 
the waves to pass several times over their bodies. They im- 
mediately retire to the land ; the eggs, in the mean time, come 
nearer to maturity, and the animals once more go into the 
water, deposit their eggs, and leave the event to nature. The 
bunches of spawn are sometimes as large as a hen's egg ; and 
it is not incurious to remark that, at this very period, numbers 
of fishes of different kinds are anxiously waiting for this an- 
nual supply of food. Whether the painful migration of the 
land-crabs, or the wonderful instinct of the fishes which await 
their arrival, in order to devour their spawn, is the most as- 
tonishing fact, we shall leave to the consideration of philoso- 
phers. The eggs which escape these voracious fishes are 
hatched under the sand. Soon after, millions of minute crabs 
are seen leaving the shore, and migrating slowly toward the 
mountains. Most of the old ones, however, remain in the fiat 
parts of the country till they regain their strength. They dig 
holes in the earth, the mouths of which they cover with leaves 
and mud. Here they throw off their old shells, remain quite 
naked, and almost without motion for six days, when they be- 
come so fat that they are esteemed delicious food. When 
the new shell has hardened, the animals, by an instinctive im- 
pulse, march back to those mountains which they had formerly 
deserted. In Jamaica, where they are numerous, the land- 
crabs are regarded as great delicacies * and they are so 
abundant, that the slaves are often entirely fed upon them. ' 

The migrating principle is not confined to men, quadru- 
peds, birds, and reptiles ; it extends to many of the insect 
tribes. Numberless inhabitants of the air pass the first stages 
of their existence in the water. There they remain for longer 
or shorter periods, according to the species. Previous to 
their transformation into chrysalids, they quit the water, and 
come upon dry ground, where they undergo their amazing 
change. Instead of being active water- worms, they dig or 
find holes in the earth, where they are converted into chrysa- 
lids, or seemingly inanimate beings, and in a short time, mount 
into the air in the form of winged insects. Similar migra- 
tions are observed among land insects. But migration is 
not confined to water- worms. Many species of caterpillars 
which feed upon the leaves of trees, shrubs, and other vege- 
tables, when about to undergo their transformation, leave 
their former abodes, descend from the trees, and conceal them- 
selves in the earth. The hiving of bees, when numerous col- 
onies remove in order to establish new settlements, is another 
25 



290 TORPIDITY OF ANIMALS. 

instance o the migration of insects. Indeed, if we except 
bees, wasps, ants, and a few others, most insects, whether 
they inhabit the air, the earth, or the waters, are perfect wan- 
derers, having no fixed place of residence. Some of them, 
as the spider tribes, build temporary apartments ; but when 
disturbed, they migrate to another commodious place, and 
erect new habitations. 

From the facts which have been enumerated, it is apparent 
that the principle of migration, or the desire of changing 
situations, is not confined to particular birds, but extends 
through almost the whole system of animation. Men, quad- 
rupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles, insects, all afford striking exam- 
pies of the migrating principle. From the same facts it is 
equally apparent, that the general motives for migrating are 
similar in every class of animals. Food, multiplication of the 
species, and a comfortable temperature of air are evidently the 
chief causes which induce animals to remove from one place to 
another, or, what amounts to the same thing, from one climate 
to another. Partial emigrations, or emigrations to small dis- 
tances, are prompted by the same instinctive motives which 
induce animals of a different structure to undertake long and 
fatiguing excursions. But previous to actual migration, what 
are the peculiar feelings of different animals, and what should 
stimulate them to proceed uniformly in the direction that 
ultimately leads them to the situations most accommodated to 
their wants and their constitutions, are mysteries, with regard 
to which, like every other part of the economy of nature, it is 
the duty of philosophers, instead of attempting to push their 
inquiries beyond the bounds of human ability, to observe a 
respectful silence. 

The third method by which animals are enabled to avoid 
suffering from the winters of cold climates, is by passing them 
in a state of torpidity. Among quadrupeds those which 
become torpid are found in the orders Carnivora and Roden- 
tia ; as the bat, hedge-hog, tenrec, marmot, hamster, dor- 
mouse, &c. They pass into the state of torpidity at different 
times of the year, according to the severity of the climate 
they inhabit. Thus in Canada the jerboa goes into winter 
quarters in September and comes out in May, but in England 
torpid animals usually retire in October and reappear in April. 
The place in which they pass the winter is that which they I 
have been accustomed to inhabit during the summer. The 
bats retire to caves and old chimneys, where they remain sus- 
pended by the claws. The marmot, hamster, &/C, secure 



TORPIDITY OF ANIMALS. 291 

themselves in their subterranean retreats, and when they first 
feel the approach of the torpid state, shut the passages to their 
habitations, in such a manner, that it is more easy to dig up 
the earth any where else than in the parts they have thus forti- 
fied. At the time of becoming torpid, animals are generally 
very fat ; this fat, during the winter, is absorbed for the purpose 
of nutrition, and they become quite lean. 

* During the torpid state, the temperature becomes very 
much diminished. The natural heat of these animals is gene- 
rally a little above that of man ; but during torpidity it de- 
scends to 30° or 40° of Fahrenheit, as has been ascertained 
by accurate observation, but still generally continues above 
that of the surrounding atmosphere. The quantity of respi- 
ration is also very much lessened. The animal has long in- 
tervals of complete repose, during which it does not breathe 
at all, and then performs a number of respirations in imme- 
diate succession. Sometimes this function is for a considera- 
ble time entirely suspended, and the degree in which it is di- 
minished, is in proportion to the more or less complete state 
of torpidity of the animal. 

' Connected with this diminution of temperature and respi- 
ration, there is a corresponding diminution in the force and 
rapidity of the circulation. The heart beats feebly and with 
less force. In the hamster, whose pulse, in its active state, 
amounts to 150 in a minute, it is, when the animal is torpid, 
reduced to only 15 in the same period. The pulsations of 
the heart in dormice, under common circumstances, from their 
great frequency, can scarcely be counted ; but as soon as they 
begin to pass into the torpid state, the pulse is reduced grad- 
ually to thirty, twenty, and sixteen, and becomes finally im- 
perceptible from feebleness. Whilst this lethargy continues, 
these animals remain entirely insensible to external objects. 
They do not feel, when wounded or deprived of their limbs ; 
they are not roused by the electric spark. The functions of 
the digestive organs cease, and they are not only without the 
appetite for food, but without the power of digesting it. The 
stomach and bowels are found empty and collapsed. There 
seems to be only just so much of vital action going on in the 
system, as is sufficient to keep the spark of life from becoming 
entirely extinguished. 

c Torpidity is brought on by the first cold weather in the 
autumn, and is probably principally produced by cold. Tor- 
pid animals, however, sometimes revive a little, during the 
warm days which occur during the winter ; and in this case 



292 TORPIDITY OF ANIMALS. 

they take some food. It is remarkable, that although the or- 
dinary cold of the season keeps them in the torpid state, yet 
exposure to a much lower temperature than that to which they 
are commonly subjected, rouses them from it. Thus a mar- 
mot which had remained in its natural lethargic state in an at- 
mosphere of 45°, upon being exposed to one of 16°, soon 
gave signs of returning animation, and in sixteen hours was 
completely revived ; it shivered with cold, and made attempts 
to escape. The same has been found true of bats. If this di- 
minished temperature be continued, the animal is frozen to 
death. The benevolent object of this singular provision is ob- 
vious. It prevents the destruction of life which might arise 
from the occurrence of uncommonly cold weather, or from the 
accidental exposure of the habitations of torpid animals to the 
access of cold, by rousing them from their lethargy, and ena- 
bling them to seek protection from the danger which threatens 
them. 

' Animals come out of their torpid state diminished in weight, 
but not with any considerable diminution in strength, or vigor 
of constitution. They enter immediately with great alacrity 
upon the business of the season, the collection of food, and 
preparation for the reception of their young. It is not improb- 
able that this winter lethargy acts in some measure like sleep, 
in refreshing and invigorating the system, and may be neces- 
sary to the constitutions of some animals. 

' It has been frequently supposed, that many birds, as well 
as quadrupeds, become torpid during the winter ; and instances 
have been related in particular of swallows which have been 
found at the bottom of ponds, or rivers, and have revived on 
exposure to air and warmth. That birds have been sometimes 
found in a torpid state, is barely possible, but the facts which 
have come to light are not sufficient to authorize the belief, 
that any species pass the winter in a torpid state as a substitute 
for the annual migration, by which they are usually enabled to 
avoid the extremes of cold. 

* All the reptiles of cold climates become torpid during the 
winter, and the phenomena they exhibit do not differ essen- 
tially from those of quadrupeds. Below the temperature of 
50° they soon fall into a state of lethargy, which continues till 
spring; and by exposing them in an ice-house, where the 
atmosphere remains constantly below that degree of heat, rep- 
tiles have been kept in a torpid state for three years and a 
half, and have, at the end of that time, readily revived. No 
limits can be set to the time during which they might thus be 



LONGEVITY OF ANIMALS. 293 

kept in a dormant state, without the extinction of life, and 
this fact seems to account, in some measure, for the finding 
of toads imbedded in stone. 

' Many animals of the lower classes are also capable of be- 
coming torpid. Several of the mollusca, spiders, the house-fly, 
the cricket, &c, are known, under favorable circumstances, to 
pass the winter in a torpid state, and revive in the spring. 

' In these different ways, then, different animals are enabled 
to avoid the dangers to which they are exposed from the vary- 
ing temperature of the seasons; 1st. By a change in the quan- 
tity and color of their covering; 2dly. By periodical migra- 
tions; and 3dly. By passing the winter in a lethargic state.' 



CHAPTER XIV. 

OF THE LONGEVITY AND DISSOLUTION OF ORGANIZED 
BODIES. 

It is a law of nature, though a melancholy one, that all 
organized bodies should be dissolved. The periods of disso- 
lution, however, are as various as the species, and the inten- 
tions of nature in producing them. 

In the human kind, the brevity of life is regarded as an ob- 
ject of regret. One half of mankind die before they arrive 
at eight years of age. From that early period to eighty, be- 
side the destruction of war, and other accidents, nature kills 
them annually in millions. Some instances may be given of 
men whose lives were prolonged beyond the usual period of 
human existence. Such men are not to be envied ; nor should 
they be considered as favorites of nature. With respect to 
maturity of judgment and a knowledge of the world, no man 
can be said to exist till he passes thirty years of age. Give 
him thirty or thirty-five more, and, in general, both mind and 
body are visibly declined. Those people, therefore, who 
arrive at an extraordinary age, may be said to exist, but they 
do not live. All intellectual enjoyments and exertions, which 
constitute the chief dignity and happiness of man, are gone. 
There are exceptions ; but these exceptions are confirmations 



294 LONGEVITY OF ANIMALS. 

of what we have advanced. Mankind, in the early ages of the 
world, have been said to live for several centuries. We mean 
not to contradict the assertion. But we must remark, that, if 
ever men lived so long, they must have been very different, 
both in the structure of their bodies, and in their manners, 
from those who now exist. From infancy to manhood, there 
is a gradual growth or extension of our organs. After this 
period, and when we advance in years, the bones harden, the 
muscles become stiff, the cartilages are converted into bones, 
the membranes into cartilages, the stomach and bowels lose 
their tone, and the whole fabric, instead of being soft, flexi- 
ble, and obedient to the inclinations, or even the commands, 
of the mind, becomes rigid, inactive, and feeble. These are 
the general and progressive causes of death, and they are 
common to all animals. There are modes of living more fa- 
vorable to health than others. But examples are not want- 
ing of men who have arrived at an extreme old age, without 
observing either temperance, or any of the other modes of 
living which are generally supposed to be favorable to longev- 
ity. Some men, who lived temperately, and even abstemi- 
ously, reached to great ages ; others, who observed the very 
opposite conduct, who lived freely and often intemperately, 
have had their existence equally prolonged. But, in general, 
notwithstanding a few exceptions, temperance, a placid and 
cheerful disposition, moderate exercise, and proper exertions 
of mind, contribute, in no uncommon degree, to the pro- 
longation of life. 

A few examples of longevity in the human species, though 
«io general conclusions can be drawn from them, may not be 
incurious to the reader. We shall not go back to a remote 
and obscure antiquity, but confine ourselves to more modern 
times, when the modes of living were nearly the same as they 
are at present. 

On this subject, the celebrated Lord Verulam, in his Sylva 
Sylvarum, gives the following passages, chiefly translated from 
the seventh book of Pliny's Natural History. " The year of 
our Lord seventy-six, falling into the time of Vespasian, is 
memorable ; in which we shall find, as it were, a kalendar of 
long-lived men ; for that year there was a taxing (now a tax- 
ing is the most authentical and truest informer touching the 
ages of men), and in that part of Italy which lieth between 
the Apennine mountains and the river Po, there were found 
one hundred and twenty-four persons that either equalled or 
exceeded an hundred years of age, namely ; — 



MAN. 295 



Fifty-four 


- 


- 


of 100 years each. 


Fifty-seven 






110 


Two 


- 


- 


- 135 


Four - - 




. 


130 


Four 


- 


- 


- 135 or 137 


Three 




. 


140 


Besides these, Parma, 


in 


particular, 


afforded five, whereof 


Three were 


- 


- 


- 120 years each. 


Two - 




- 


130 


One in Bruxelles 


- 


. 


- 125 


One in Placentia 




- 


131 


One in Faventia 


- 


- 


- 132 



A certain town, then called the Velleiatium, situate in the 
hills about Placentia, afforded ten, whereof 

Six were - - - - - 110 years each. 

Four 120 

One in Rimino, whose name was 

Marcus Aponius - 150." 

The most extraordinary instance of longevity in Great Brit- 
ain was exhibited in the person of Henry Jenkins. He was 
a native of Yorkshire, lived to the amazing age of 169 years, 
and died on the 8th day of December, 1670. 

Next to Jenkins, we have the famous Thomas Parre, who 
was a native of Shropshire, and died on the 16th day of No- 
vember, 1635, at the age of 152. 

Francis Consist, a native of Yorkshire, aged 150, died in 
January, 1768. 

Margaret Foster, aged 136, and her daughter, aged 104, 
were natives of Cumberland, and both alive in the year 1771. 

William Evans, aged 145, lived in Caernarvon, and still 
existed in the year 1782. 

Dumitor Radaloy, aged 140, lived in Harmenstead, and 
died on the 16th day of January, 1782. 

James Bowels, aged 152, lived in Killingworth, and died on 
the 15th day of August, 1656. 

The Countess of Desmond, in Ireland, saw her 140th year. 

Mr. Eccleston, a native of Ireland, lived to the age of 143, 
and died in the year 1691. 

John Mount, a native of Scotland, saw his 136th year, and 
died on the 27th day of February, 1776. 

William Ellis, of Liverpool, died on the 16th day of August, 
1780, at the age of 130. 

Colonel Thomas Winsloe, a native of Ireland, aged 146, 
died on the 22d day of August, 1766. 



296 LONGEVITY OF ANIMALS. 

John Taylor was born in Carrygill, in the county of Cum- 
berland. He was bred a miner. His father died when John 
was only four years of age. Poverty obliged him to be set 
early to work. During two years he dressed lead ore for two 
pence a day. The next three or four years he assisted the 
miners in removing the ore and rubbish to the bank, for which 
he received four pence a day. At this period there happened 
a great solar eclipse, which was distinguished in Scotland by 
the appellation of Mirk Monday.* This event, which he al- 
ways repeated with the same circumstances, is the chief era 
from which John's age has been computed. After laboring 
many years, both in this and the neighboring kingdom, he 
died, near Lead-hills, in Scotland, in the month of May, 1770, 
at the great age of 133. 

' An account is given by Professor Silliman, in his Journal 
of a Tour to Quebec, of a visit which he paid, near Whitehall, 
in the State of New- York, to a man who had reached the ex- 
treme age of one hundred and thirty-four years. His name 
was Henry Francisco, and he was a native of France. "He 
believes himself to be one hundred and thirty-four years old, 
and the country around believe him to be of this great age. 
When we arrived at his residence (a plain farmer's house, 
not painted, rather out of repair, and much open to the wind), 
he was up stairs, at his daily work, of spooling and winding 
yarn. This occupation is auxiliary to that of his wife, who is 
a weaver, and although more than eighty years old, she 
weaves six yards a day, and the old man can supply her with 
more yarn than she can weave. Supposing he must be very 
feeble, we offered to go up stairs to him ; but he soon came 
down, walking somewhat stooping, and supported by a staff, 
but with less apparent inconvenience than most persons ex- 
hibit at eighty-five or ninety. His stature is of the middle 
size, and although his person is rather delicate and slen- 
der, he stoops but little, even when unsupported. His 
complexion is very fair and delicate, and his expression 
bright, cheerful, and intelligent ; his features are hand- 
some, and, considering that they have endured through one 
third part of a second century, they are regular, comely, and 
wonderfully undisfigured by the hand of time ; his eyes are 
of a lively blue ; his profile is Grecian, and very fine ; his 
head is completely covered with the most beautiful and deli- 
cate white locks imaginable ; they are so long and abundant 

* Mirk, in the Scotch dialect, signifies dark ; and the eclipse happened in the year 
1652.— S. 



MAN. 297 

as to fall gracefully from the crown of his head, parting regu- 
larly from a central point, and reaching down to his shoul- 
ders; his hair is perfectly snow white, except w*here it is thick 
in his neck ; when parted there, it shows some few dark shades, 
the remnants of a former century. He still retains the front 
teeth of his upper jaw; his mouth is not fallen in, like that of 
old people generally, and his lips, particularly, are like those 
of middle life; his voice is strong and sweet-toned, although 
a little tremulous ; his hearing very little impaired, so that 
a voice of usual strength, with distinct articulation, enables 
him to understand ; his eyesight is sufficient for his work, 
and he distinguishes large print, such as the title-page of the 
Bible, without glasses ; his health is good, and has always 
been so, except that he has now a cough and expectoration." 
' It appeared from his account of himself, which was con- 
sistent and intelligible, and confirmed by collateral historical 
facts, that his father was a French Protestant, who fled from 
France, in the latter part of the reign of Louis XIV., in con- 
sequence of the persecutions arising from the revocation of 
the edict of Nantz ; that he took refuge in Holland, and after- 
wards in England ; that Francisco himself was born in the 
year 1686 ; that he recollects his emigration from France in 
1691, and the coronation of Queen Anne in 1702, at which 
time he says he was sixteen years old. He fought in all Queen 
Anne's wars, and exhibits the scars of many wounds, but only 
recollects the name of the Duke of Marlborough, among the 
commanders under whom he served. He came out with his 
father to New York early in the last century, though he can- 
not remember the date, and was engaged in most of the wars 
which occurred until that of the revolution. " He has had 
two wives and twenty-one children ; the youngest child is the 
daughter in whose house he lives, and she is fifty-two years 
old; of course he was eighty-two when she was born." "He 
has been all his life a very active and energetic, although not 
a stout-framed man. He was formerly fond of spirits, and did, 
for a certain period, drink more than was proper, but that habit 
appears to have been long abandoned. In other respects he 
has been remarkably abstemious, eating but little, and particu- 
larly abstaining, almost entirely, from animal food ; his favorite 
articles being tea, bread and butter, and baked apples. His 
wife said that after such a breakfast he would go out and work 
till noon ; then dine upon the same, if he could get it, and then 
take the same at night ; and particularly, that he always drank 
lea, whenever he could obtain it, three cups at a time, three 



298 LONGEVITY OF ANIMALS. 

times a day." " The oldest people in the vicinity remember 
Francisco as being always, from their earliest recollection, 
much older than themselves ; and a Mr. Fuller, who recently 
died here between eighty and ninety years of age, thought Fran- 
cisco was one hundred and forty. " " He is really a most re- 
markable and interesting old man : there is nothing either in 
his person or dress of the negligence and squalidness of extreme 
age, especially when not in elevated circumstances ; on the 
contrary, he is agreeable and attractive, and were he dressed 
in a superior manner, and placed in a handsome, well-furnish- 
ed apartment, he would be a most beautiful old man." * 

The general causes of death have already been mentioned. 
But in women the operation of these causes is frequently re- 
tarded. In the female sex, the bones, the cartilages, the 
muscles, as well as every other part of the body, are softer 
and less solid than those of men ; neither are they generally 
so much subjected to bodily exertions. Their constituent 
parts, accordingly, require more time in hardening to that 
degree which occasions death. Women, of course, ought to 
live longer than men. This reasoning is confirmed by the 
bills of mortality; for, upon consulting them, it appears, that, 
after women have passed a certain time, they live much longer 
than men who have reached the same period. The duration 
of the lives of animals may, in some measure, be estimated 
by the time occupied in their growth. An animal, or even 
a plant, as we learn from experience, which acquires matu- 
rity in a short time, perishes much sooner than those which 
are longer in arriving at that period. In the human spe- 
cies, when individuals grow with uncommon rapidity, they 
generally die young. This circumstance seems to have 
given rise to the common proverbial expression, "soon ripe, 
soon rotten." Man grows in stature till he is sixteen or 
eighteen years of age ; but the thickness of his body is not 
completely unfolded before that of thirty. Dogs acquire their 
full length in one year ; but their growth in thickness is not 
finished till the end of the second. A man, who continues to 

* Silliman's Tour between Hartford and Quebec, in the summer of 1819, p. 172, 
'This old man has, I believe, since died. In the 10th Vol. 2d Series of the Massa- 
chusetts Historical Collections, there is an account of a number of instances of lon- 
gevity which have been known to occur in New Hampshire. Within the ten years 
from 1810 to 1820, eighty persons are recorded who died above the age of ninety, 
twenty-nine of whom reached or exceeded the age of one hundred. Besides these 
there have died in the state, within the last century, one person of one hundred and 
twenty — one of one hundred and sixteen — one of one hundred and fifteen — one of 
one hundred and ten— one of one hundred and eight — one of one hundred and seven 
— one of one hundred and six — several of one hundred and five, and there were liv 
ing, in 1822, at Chesterfield, a woman of one hundred and five, and at Bow, a man of 
one hundred and twelve. The population of New Hampshire, in 1810, was 2H S 460* 
and in 182Q, 243,136.' 



MAN* um 

grow for thirty years, may live ninety or a hundred ; but a 
dog, whose growth terminates in two or three years, lives only 
ten or twelve years. The same observation i« applicable to 
most animals. Fishes continue to grow for a great number 
of years. Some of them, accordingly, live during several 
centuries, because their bones and cartilages seldom acquire 
the density of those of other animals. It may, therefore, be 
considered as a general fact, that large animals live longer 
than small ones, because the former require more time to 
complete their growth. Thus the causes of our dissolution 
are inevitable ; and it is equally impossible to retard that fatal 
period, as to change the established laws of nature. When 
the constitution is sound, life may, perhaps, by moderating 
the passions, and by temperance, be prolonged a few years, 
But the varieties of climate, and the mode of living, make 
no material differences with regard to the period of our 
existence, which is nearly the same in the European, the 
Negro, the Asiatic, the American, the civilized man and the 
savage, the rich and the poor, the citizen and the peasant 
Neither does the change of food, or of accommodation, make 
any change in the duration of life. Men who are fed on 
raw flesh or dried fish, on sago or rice, on cassada or roots, 
live as long as those who use bread and prepared victuals. 
If luxury and intemperance be excepted, nothing can alter 
those laws of mechanism which invariably determine the 
number of our years. Any little differences which may be 
remarked in the term of human life, seem to be chiefly owing 
to the quality of the air. In general, there are more old men 
in high than in low countries. The mountains of Scotland, of 
Wales, and of Switzerland, have furnished more examples of 
longevity than the plains of Holland, Flanders, Germany, or 
Poland. Bat, if we take a survey of mankind, whatever be 
the climate they inhabit, or their mode of living, there is no 
very essential difference in the duration of life. When men are 
not cut off by accidental diseases, individuals may every where 
be found who live ninety or a hundred years. Our ancestors, 
with few exceptions, never exceeded this period ; and, since 
the days of David, king of the Jews, it has undergone no 
variation. Beside accidental diseases, which are more fre- 
quent as well as more dangerous, in the latter periods of life, 
old men are subjected to natural infirmities that originate 
solely from a decay of the different parts of the body. The 
muscles lose their tone, the head shakes, the hands tremble, 
the limbs totter, the sensibility of the nerves is blunted, the 



800 



LONGEVITY OF ANIMALS. 



cavities of the vessels contract; the secretory organs are ob<* 
structed, the blood, the lymph, and the other fluids, extrava- 
sate, and produce all those symptoms and diseases which are 
commonly ascribed to a vitiation of the humors. The natural 
decay of the solids, however, appears to be the original cause 
of all these maladies. Tt is true, that a bad state of the fluids 
proceeds from a depravity in the organization of the solids. 
But the effects resulting from a noxious change in the fluids 
produce the most alarming symptoms. When the fluids stag- 
nate, or if, by a relaxation of the vessels, an extravasation 
takes place, they soon corrupt and corrode the weaker part of 
the solids. Hence the causes of dissolution gradually, but 
perpetually, multiply ; our internal enemies grow more and 
more powerful, and at last put a period to our existence. 

With regard to Quadrupeds, the causes of their dissolution 
are precisely the same with those which destroy the human 
species, with the exception of those which depend upon the 
vices and intemperance of mankind. The times of their 
growth bear, likewise, some proportion to the duration of their 
lives. The following table will afford a view of the period of 
arriving at maturity, the length of life of some of the principal 
quadrupeds, and the number of young which they produce at 
a birth. 



Names. 


Period of Maturity. Length of Life. 


No. of young at a birth. 


Elephant 


30 years 


200 years 


l 


Rhinoceros 


15 or 20 


70 to 80 


l 


Hippopotamus 


probably about the same 


l 


Camel 


4 




40 to 50 


i 


Horse 


2 or 


3 


25 to 30 


1, rarely 2 


Zebra 


2 




do. 


do. 


Ass 


2 




do. 


do. 


Buffalo 


3 




15 to 18 


1 


Ox 


2 




20 


1, rarely 2 


Stag 


lor 


li 


30 to 35 


do. 


Reindeer 


2 




16 


1 


Large Apes 


3 




20 


1, sometimes 2 


Saiga 


1 




15 to 20 


1, sometimes 2 


Roebuck 


lor 


1J 


12 to 15 


1 to 3 


Chamois 


1 




20 


do. 


Goat 


1 




8 to 10 


1 to 4 


Sheep 


1 




do. 


1 to 3 


Bear 


2 




20 to 25 


never above 5 


Lion 


2 




do. 


3 or 4 



BIRDS. 



301 



Names. Period of Maturity. Length of Life. No. of young at a birth. 

Leopard and Tiger 2 20 to 25 m 4 or 5 

Wolf 2 15 to 20 5 to 9 

Dog 1 do. 3 to 6 

Fox 1 10 to 12 do. 

Cat less than 1 do. do. 

Dormouse do. 6 3 to 5 

Hog 1 15 6 to 20 

Hare less than 1 7 to 8 2 to 4 

Rabbit do. do. 4 to 8 

Guinea-pig 6 weeks 7 4 to 12. 

Some birds afford instances of great longevity. In this 
class of animals, the duration of life is by no means propor- 
tioned to the times of their growth. Most of them acquire 
their full dimensions in a few months, and are capable of mul- 
tiplying the species the first spring or summer after they are 
hatched. In proportion to the size of their bodies, birds are 
much more vivacious, and live longer than either men or 
quadrupeds. Swans have been said to live three hundred 
years; but though mentioned by respectable writers, the 
assertion is not supported by any authentic evidence. Mr. 
Willoughby, in his Ornithology, remarks, " We have been 
assured by a friend of ours, a person of very good credit, that 
his father kept a goose known to be fourscore years of age, 
and as yet sound and lusty, and like enough to have lived 
many years longer, had he not been forced to kill her for her 
mischievousness, worrying and destroying the young geese 
and goslings." In another part of this valuable work, Mr. 
Willoughby tells us, " that he has been assured by credible 
persons that a goose will live a hundred years and more." 
In man and quadrupeds, the duration of life bears some pro- 
portion to the time of their growth. But, in birds, their 
growth, and their powers of reproduction, are more rapid, 
although they live proportionally longer. Some species of 
birds, as all the gallinaceous tribes, can make use of their 
limbs the moment they issue from the shell ; and in a month 
or five weeks after, they can likewise employ their wings. 
A dunghill cock does not acquire his full growth in less than 
a year. The smaller birds are perfect in four or five months. 
They grow more rapidly, and produce much sooner than 
quadrupeds, and yet live proportionally much longer. In 
man and quadrupeds the duration of life is six or seven times 
more than that of their growth. According to this rule a 
cock or a parrot, which arrives at its full growth and pow- 
26 



302 LONGEVITY OF ANIMALS. 

ers in one year, should not live above six or seven. But na- 
ture knows none of our rules. She accommodates her con- 
duct, not to our shallow and often presumptuous conclusions, 
but to the preservation of species, and to the support and gen- 
eral balance of the great system of animated beings. Ravens, 
though capable of providing for themselves in less than a year, 
sometimes have their lives protracted more than a century. 
The Count de Buffon informs us, that, in several places in 
France, ravens have been known to arrive at this extraordi- 
nary age, and that at all times, and in all countries, they have 
been esteemed birds of great longevity. 

" Eagles," says Mr. Pennant, " are remarkable for their 
longevity, and for their power of sustaining a long abstinence 
from food. A golden eagle, which has now been nine years 
in possession of Owen Holland, Esq. of Conway, lived thirty- 
two years with the gentleman who made him a present of it; 
but what its age was when the latter received it from Ireland 
is unknown. The same bird also furnishes a proof of the 
truth of the other remark, having once, through the neglect of 
servants, endured hunger for twenty-one days without any sus- 
tenance whatsoever." The pelican that was kept at Mechlin 
in Brabant during the reign of the Emperor Maximilian, was 
believed to be eighty years of age. " What is reported of 
the age of eagles and ravens," says Mr. Willoughby, " although 
it exceeds all belief, yet doth it evince that those birds are 
very long-lived. Pigeons have been known to live from twenty 
to twenty-two years. Even the smaller birds live very long in 
proportion to the time of their growth and the size of their 
bodies. Linnets, goldfinches, &c, often live in cages fifteen, 
twenty, and even twenty-three years." 

Fishes, whose bones are more cartilaginous than those ot 
men and quadrupeds, are long in acquiring their utmost 
growth, and many of them live to great ages. Gesner gives 
an instance of a carp in Germany which he knew to be one 
hundred years old. Buffon informs us, that, in the Count; 
Maurepas' ponds, he had seen carps of one hundred and fifty 
years of age, and that the fact was attested in the most satis-, 
factory manner. He even mentions one which he supposed 
to be two hundred years old. Two methods have been devised 
for ascertaining the age of fishes, namely, by the circles of 
the scales, and by a transverse section of the back-bone. 
When a scale of a fish is examined by a microscope, it is. 
found to consist of a number of circles, one within another^ 
resembling, in some measure, those rings that appear on the 



FISHES. REPTILES. 303 

transverse sections of trees, by which their ages are computed. 
In the same manner, the ages of fishes may be ascertained by 
the number of circles on their scales, reckoning for each ring 
one year of the animal's existence. The ages of Button's 
carps were chiefly determined by the circles on their scales. 
The age of fishes that want scales, such as the skate and ray 
kind, may be pretty exactly known by separating the joints of 
the back-bone, and observing minutely the number of rings 
which the surface exhibits. Both of these methods may be 
liable to deception ; but they are the only natural ones which 
have hitherto been discovered. The longevity of fishes has 
been ascribed to several causes. The element in which they 
live is more uniform, and less subject to accidental changes 
than the air of our atmosphere. Their bones, which are more 
of a cartilaginous nature than those of land animals, admit 
of indefinite extension ; of course their bodies, instead of 
suffering the rigidity of age at an early period, which is the 
natural cause of death, continue to grow much longer than 
those of most land animals. 

As to the age of Reptiles, probably from the uninteresting 
nature of the animals, we have very little information. But 
two letters of J. Arscott, Esq. of Tehott in Devonshire, con- 
cerning the longevity of a toad, deserve some notice. These 
letters were addressed to Dr. Milles, Dean of Exeter, and by 
him communicated to Mr. Pennant in the year 1768. " It 
would give me the greatest pleasure," says Mr. Arscott, " to be 
able to inform you of any particulars worthy Mr. Pennant's 
notice, concering the toad who lived so many years with us, 
and was so great a favorite. — It had frequented some steps 
before the hall door some years before my acquaintance com- 
menced with it, and had been admired by my father for its 
size (which was the largest I ever met with), who constantly 
paid it a visit every evening. I knew it myself above thirty 
years, and, by constantly feeding it, brought it to be so tame, 
that it always came to the candle, and looked up, as if ex- 
pecting to be taken and brought upon the table, where I al- 
ways fed it with insects of all sorts. — You may imagine that 
a toad, generally detested (although one of the most inoffen- 
sive of ail animals), so much taken notice of and befriended, 
excited the curiosity of all comers to the house, who all de- 
sired to see it fed ; so that even ladies so far conquered the 
horrors instilled into them by nurses, as to desire to see it." 
In the second letter, Mr. Arscott remarks, " I cannot say how 
long my father had been acquainted with the toad before I 



304 LONGEVITY OF ANIMALS. 

knew it ; but when I was first acquainted with it, he used to 
mention it as the old toad I have known so many years : I can 
answer for thirty-six years." — " In respect to its end, had it 
not been for a tame raven, I make no doubt it would have 
been now living, who, one day seeing it at the mouth of its 
hole, pulled it out, and though I rescued it, pulled out one 
eye, and hurt it so, that, notwithstanding its living a twelve- 
month, it never enjoyed itself, and had a difficulty in taking 
its food, missing the mark, for want of its eye. Before that 
accident it had all the appearance of perfect health. " 

Most Insects, especially after their last transformation, are 
short-lived. But the species are continually supported by their 
wonderful fecundity. Those animals whose parts require a 
long time of hardening and expanding, are endowed with a 
proportional degree of longevity. Insects grow and their 
bodies harden more quickly than those of larger animals. 
Many of them complete their growth in a few weeks, and 
even in a few days. The duration of their existence is ac- 
cordingly limited to very short periods. Some species of 
flies lie in a torpid state during the winter, and revive when 
the heat of spring or summer returns. The ephemeron flies, 
of which there are several kinds, seldom live above one day, 
or one hour, after their transformation. But to continue the 
species, nature has taken care that myriads of males and 
females should be transformed nearly at the same instant. 
Other kinds are transformed more irregularly, and live several 
days. Here the wisdom of nature is conspicuous ; she pro- 
longs the existence of these animals for no other purpose but 
to make provision for the continuance of the species. Bees, 
and flies of all kinds, after lying long in the water, and having 
every appearance of death, revive by the application of a 
gentle heat, or by covering their bodies with ashes, chalk, or 
sand, which absorb the superfluous moisture from their pores. 
Reaumur made many experiments upon the reviviscence of 
drowned bees. He found, that after being immersed in water 
for nine hours, some of them returned to life ; but he ac- 
knowledges that many of them, in the fourth part of this time, 
were actually dead, and that neither heat nor the application 
of absorbent powders could restore them to life. Analogical 
reasoning is often deceitful, but it frequently leads to useful 
truths. As flies of all kinds, after immersion in water, and 
exhibiting every mark of actual death, can be restored to life 
by covering their bodies with any absorbent substance, with- 
out the assistance of a heat superior to that of the common 



LONGEVITY OF PLANTS. 305 

atmosphere, might not the ordinary methods employed for the 
recovery of drowned persons be assisted by^the application 
of warm ashes or chalk ? The structure of a fly and that of a 
man, it is allowed, are very different. But in desperate cases, 
when every other method fails, no fact should be overlooked, 
and no analogy despised. 

Plants differ as much in the periods of their existence as 
animals. Many plants perish yearly ; others are biennial, 
triennial, &c. But the longevity and magnitude of particular 
trees are prodigious. We are informed by Mr. Evelyn, that 
in the bodies of some English oaks, when cut transversely, 
three and even four hundred rings of wood have been distin- 
guished. A ring of wood is added annually to the trunks of 
trees ; and, by counting the rings, the age of any tree may be 
pretty exactly ascertained. With regard to the magnitude 
of oaks, some of them are huge masses. Dr. Hunter, in his 
notes upon Evelyn's Sylva, remarks, that none " of the oaks 
mentioned by Mr. Evelyn bear any proportion to one now 
growing at Cowthorpe, near Wetherby, upon an estate belong- 
ing to the Right Hon. Lady Stourton. The dimensions are 
almost incredible. Within three feet of the surface, it meas- 
ures sixteen yards; and close by the ground twenty-six yards. 
Its height, in its present and ruinous state (1776) is about 
eighty-five feet, and its principal limb extends sixteen yards 
from the bole. When compared to this, all other trees are 
but children of the forest." 

From the facts which have been enumerated, it appears, 
that all animals, as well as vegetables, have stated periods of 
existence, and that their dissolution is uniformly accomplished 
by a gradual hardening and desiccation of their constituent 
parts. No art, no medicine, can retard the operations of nature. 
It is, therefore, the wisdom and the duty of every human 
being to sail down the irresistible current of nature with all pos- 
sible tranquillity and resignation. Life, whether short or long, 
whether fortunate or unfortunate, when the fatal period arrives, 
is of little consequence to the individual. Society, knowledge, 
virtue, and benevolence, are our only rational enjoyments, and 
ought to be cultivated with diligence. 

With regard to animals in general, the actual duration of 
their lives is very different. But the comparative shortness 
or length of life, in particular animals, probably depends on 
the quickness or slowness of the ideas which pass in their 
minds, or of the impressions made upon their senses. A rapid 
succession of ideas or impressions makes time seem propor- 
26* 



306 



ACTUAL DURATION OF LIFE. 



tionally long. There is likewise a connection between the 
quickness and slowness of ideas, and the circulation of the 
blood. A man whose pulse is slow and sluggish, is generally 
dull and phlegmatic. Raise the same man's pulse with wine, or 
any other exhilarating stimulus, and you immediately quicken 
his sensations, as well as the train of his ideas. In all young 
animals the circulation of blood is much more rapid than 
after they have acquired their full growth. Young animals ac- 
cordingly are frolicsome, vivacious, and happy. But, when 
their growth is completed, the motion of the blood is slower, 
and their manners of course are more sedate, gloomy, and 
pensive. Another circumstance merits attention. The circu- 
lation of the blood is slower or quicker in proportion to the 
magnitude of animals. In large animals, such as man and 
quadrupeds, the blood moves slowly, and the succession of their 
ideas is proportionally slow. In the more minute kinds, as 
mice, small birds, squirrels, &c, the circulation is so rapid that 
the pulsations of their arteries cannot be counted. Now, ani- 
mals of this description astonish us with the quickness of their 
movements, the vivacity of their manners, and the extreme 
cheerfulness of their dispositions. 

Reaumur, Condillac, and many other philosophers, consider 
duration as a relative idea, depending on a train of conscious 
perception and sentiment. It is certain that the natural meas- 
ure of time depends solely on the succession of our ideas. 
Were it possible for the mind to be totally occupied with a sin- 
gle idea for a day, a week, or a month, these portions of time 
would appear to be nothing more than so many instants. Hence 
a philosopher often lives as long in one day, as a clown or a 
savage does in a week or a month spent in mental inactivity 
and want of thought. 

This subject shall be concluded with a single remark : if it 
be true, — and we are certain that it is so in part, — that animals 
of every species, whatever be the real duration of their lives, 
from a slow or rapid succession of ideas, and perhaps from 
the comparative intensity of their enjoyments, live equally 
long, and enjoy an equal portion of individual happiness, it 
opens a wonderful view of the great benevolence of Nature. To 
store every portion of this globe with animal life, she has am- 
ply peopled the earth, the air, and the waters. The multifa- 
rious inhabitants of these elements, as to the actual duration of 
their lives, are extremely diversified. But, by variation of 
forms of magnitude, of rapidity of ideas, of intensity of pleas- 
ures, and, perhaps, of many other circumstances, she has con- 
ferred upon the whole nearly an equal portion of happiness. 



PROGRESSIVE SCALE OF BEINGS. 307 



CHAPTER XV. 

OF THE PROGRESSIVE SCALE OR CHAIN OF BEINGS IN THE 
UNIVERSE, 

To men of observation and reflection it is apparent, that 
all the beings on this earth, whether animals or vegetables, 
have a mutual connection and a mutual dependence on each 
other. There is a graduated scale or chain of existence, not 
a link of which, however seemingly insignificant, could be 
broken without affecting the whole. Superficial men, or, 
which is the same thing, men who avoid the trouble of serious 
thinking, wonder at the design of producing certain insects 
and reptiles. But they do not consider that the annihilation 
of any one of these species, though some of them are incon- 
venient, and even noxious to man, would make a blank in 
nature, and prove destructive to other species, which feed 
upon them. These, in their turn, would be the cause of 
destroying other species, and the system of devastation would 
gradually proceed, till man himself would be extirpated, and 
leave this earth destitute of all animation. 

In the chain of animals, man is unquestionably the chief 
or capital link. As a highly-rational animal, improved with 
science and arts, he is, in some measure, related to beings of 
a superior order, wherever they exist. By contemplating the 
works of nature, he even rises to some faint ideas of her great 
Author. Why, it has been asked, are not men endowed with 
the capacity and powers of angels ? beings of whom we have 
not even a conception. With the same propriety it may be 
asked, Why have not beasts the mental powers of men? 
Questions of this kind are the results of ignorance, which is 
always petulant and presumptuous. Every creature is per- 
fect, according to its destination. Raise or depress any order 
of beings, the whole system, of course, will be deranged, and 
a new world would be necessary to contain and support them. 
Particular orders of beings should not be considered sepa- 
rately, but by the rank they hold in the general system. 
From man to the minutest animalcule which can be discov- 
ered by the microscope, the chasm seems to be infinite ; but 
that chasm is actually filled up with sentient beings, of which 
the lines of discrimination are almost imperceptible. All of 



sd8 PROGRESSIVE SCALE OF BEINGS. 

them possess degrees of perfection or of excellence propof* 
tioned to their station in the universe. Even among mankind, 
which is a particular species, the scale of intellect is very 
extensive. What a difference between an enlightened phi- 
losopher and a brutal Hottentot! Still, however, nature 
observes, for the wisest purposes, her uniform plan of gradation, 
In the human species the degrees of intelligence are ex- 
tremely varied. Were all men philosophers, the business of 
life could not be executed, and neither society nor even the 
species could long exist, industry, various degrees of knowl* 
edge, different dispositions, and different talents, are great 
bonds of society. The Gentoos, from certain political and 
religious institutions, have formed their people into different 
castes or ranks, out of which their posterity can never emerge. 
To us such institutions appear to be tyrannical, and restraints 
on the natural liberty of man. In some respects they are so; 
but they seem to have been originally results of wisdom and 
observation ; for, independently of all political institutions, 
nature herself has formed the human species into castes or 
ranks. To some she gives superior genius and mental abili- 
ties ; and even of these, the views, the pursuits, and the tastes 
are most wonderfully diversified. 

In the talents and qualities of quadrupeds of the same 
species there are often remarkable differences. These dif- 
ferences are conspicuous in the various races of horses, dogs, 
&c. Even among the same races, some are bold, sprightly, 
and sagacious. Others are comparatively timid, phlegmatic, 
and dull. 

Our knowledge of the chain of intellectual and corporeal 
beings is very imperfect ; but what we do know gives us ex- 
alted ideas of that variety and progression which reign in the 
universe. A thick cloud prevents us from recognizing the 
most beautiful and magnificent parts of this immense chain 
of beings. We shall endeavor, however, to point out a few 
of the more obvious links of that chain, which fall under our 
own limited observation. 

Man, even by his external qualities, stands at the head of 
this world. His relations are more extensive, and his form 
more advantageous, than those of any other animal. His in- 
tellectual powers, when improved by society and science, 
raise him so high, that if no degrees of excellence existed 
among his own species, he would leave a great void in the 
chain of beings. Were we to consider the characters, the 
manners, and the genius of different nations, of different prov- 



PROGRESSIVE SCALE OF BEINGS, 309 

inces and towns, and even of the members of the same fam- 
ily, we should imagine that the species of men ^vere as various 
as the number of individuals. How many gradations may be 
traced between a stupid Huron, or a Hottentot, and a pro- 
found philosopher ! Here the distance is immense ; but na- 
ture has occupied the whole by almost infinite shades of dis- 
crimination, 

' In descending the scale of animation, the next step brings 
us to the monkey tribe. Man, in many particulars, undoubt- 
edly resembles the animals of this tribe, more especially in 
his bodily structure. But even in this respect, the lowest 
variety of the human species does not nearly so much resem- 
ble the highest of the apes, as the latter do the majority of 
quadrupeds. In short, notwithstanding the attempts of some 
philosophers to confound their own species with monkeys, it 
requires only a small share of knowledge of the anatomical 
structure of animals, and the general principles of natural 
history, to convince any one of the folly and absurdity of such 
speculations. 

' In the families of bats, of carnivorous, and of gnawing 
animals, there is a gradual departure in their form and struc- 
ture from that of the original standard, man. Instead of 
fingers fitted for delicate motions and sensations, they are 
possessed only of claws which are capable of far less varied 
application and utility ; and passing on still farther, we find 
in the ruminating and pachydermatous animals the toes en- 
veloped in hoofs of different sizes and numbers, which totally 
prevent them from being used for any thing but locomotion. 

1 There is not only this regular gradation among individu- 
als belonging to the same class, but there are instances in 
which the individuals of different classes very nearly approach 
each other in certain particulars. The bat, the flying squirrel, 
the flying opossum, are instances of animals of the class mam- 
malia, approximating to that of birds in the possession of 
wings, or organs resembling them, whilst the ornithorhynchus 
resembles them in the structure of its mouth, and its mode of 
producing its young by eggs. On the other hand, the ostrich, 
the cassowary and the dodo, which have wings so short as to 
be incapable of flying, and therefore always run or walk, are 
instances of birds approaching, in some degree, to the char- 
acter of quadrupeds. So, too, the cetaceous tribe affords an 
example of the transition from the mammalia to fishes ; the 
flying-fish, of the transition from birds to fishes ; the dragons, 
of that from birds to reptiles. Many other examples might 



8X0 PROGRESSIVE SCALE OF BEINGS 

be adduced in illustration of the same principle among the 
vertebral animals ; and among the invertebral, the connec- 
tions and relations of this sort are so numerous, as to form a 
great obstacle to the proper division of them into classes and 
orders. 

* All the substances we recognize on this earth may be di- 
vided into organized and animated, organized and inanimated, 
and unorganized or brute matter. The whole of these pos- 
sess degrees of perfection, of excellence, or of relative utility, 
proportioned to their stations or ranks in the universe. Change 
these stations or ranks, and another world would be neces- 
sary to contain and support them. Beings must not be con- 
templated individually, but by their rank, and the relations 
they have to the constituent parts of the general system of 
nature. Certain results of their natures we consider as evils. 
Destroy these evils, and you annihilate the beings who com- 
plain of them. The reciprocal action of the solids and fluids 
constitute life, and the discontinuation of this action is the 
natural cause of death. Immortality on this earth, therefore, 
presupposes another system ; for our planet has no relation 
to immortal beings. Every animal, and every plant, rises, by 
gentle gradations, from an embryo, or gelatinous state, to a 
certain degree of perfection exactly proportioned to their 
several orders. An assemblage of all the orders of relative 
perfection constitutes the absolute perfection of the whole. 
All the planets of this system gravitate toward the sun and 
toward each other. Our system gravitates toward other sys- 
tems, and they to ours. Thus the whole universe is linked 
together by a gradual and almost imperceptible chain of 
existences, both animated and inanimate. Were there no 
other argument in favor of the unity of deity, this uniform- 
ity of design, this graduated concatenation of beings, which 
appears not only from this chapter, but from many other parts 
of the book, seems to be perfectly irrefragable. 

6 In contemplating man as the head of those animals with 
which we are acquainted, and viewing him in connection with 
the economy of the world about him, it appears obvious that 
no sentient being, whose physical construction was more deli- 
cate, or whose mental powers were more elevated than those 
of man, could possibly live and be happy here. If such a be- 
ing really existed, his misery would be extreme. With senses 
more refined and acute; with perceptions more delicate 
and penetrating; with a taste so exquisite that the objects 
around him could by no means gratify it ; obliged to feed upon 



PROGRESSIVE SCALE OP BEINGS. 311 

nourishment too gross for his frame ; he must be born only 
to be miserable, and the continuation of his existence would 
be utterly impossible. Even in our present condition, the 
sameness and insipidity of objects and pursuits, the futility of 
pleasure, and the infinite sources of excruciating pain, bring 
constantly to our minds a conviction of the imperfections 
attendant on our present state of being. Increase our sensi- 
bilities, continue the same objects and situation, and no man 
could bear to live. Let man therefore be contented with the 
powers and the sphere of action assigned him. There is an 
exact adaptation of his powers, capacities, and desires, both 
bodily and intellectual, to the scene in which he is destined 
to move. His station in the scale of nature is fixed by wis- 
dom. Let him study the works of nature, and find in the 
contemplation of all that is beautiful, curious, and wonderful 
in them, proofs of the existence and attributes of his Creator. 
Let him see in his own structure, and that of all other animals, 
and in the whole economy of the universe, animate and inan- 
imate, the evidences of the wisdom, the skill, the benevolence, 
and the justice of that great and overruling Intelligence, who 
has made all things, and who upholds all things. Let him 
find in the contemplation of the final destiny which is prom- 
ised him, a source of consolation for the imperfections, pains, 
and trials, of the present state of being. Let him fill up his 
rank here with dignity, and consider every partial evil as a 
cause, or an effect, of general ultimate good ; and let him 
adore and worship that great and good Being, who has, even 
in this state of discipline and probation, dispensed so many 
blessings to alleviate its necessary and. unavoidable evils. 



ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION* 
CHAPTER L 

OF THE NATURE OF LIVING BODIES AND THE DISTINCTION 
BETWEEN ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES. 

Common division of natural objects into the mineral, vegetable, and animal 

kingdoms not perfectly accurate 1 — 2 

Division into those possessed of life and those not possessed of life 2 

Distinctions between these two 2 — 6 

Distinction between animals and vegetables . 6 — 12 

CHAPTER IL 

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE STRUCTURE OF VEGETABLES. 

Great simplicity and uniformity in the structure of plants 12—13 

Circulation of the sap in annual plants 13 

Differences in the circulation in plants of larger growth and trees, and the 

formation of the bark and wood 13—14 

Object of this arrangement 14 

Of the other functions of vegetables 14— 15 

CHAPTER HI. 

OF THE STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS* 

Sect. I. General Classification of Animals. 

Necessity of some system of arrangement 15 — 18 

Two grand divisions of animals, Vertebral and Invertebral 17 

Vertebral division subdivided into warm-blooded and cold-blooded 17 

Warm-blooded vertebral animals, two classes, Mammalia and Birds 17 

Cold-blooded vertebral animals, two classes, Reptiles and Fishes 17 

Invertebral divisions subdivided into five classes, Insects, Crustacea, Mol- 

lusca, Vermes or Worms, Zoophytes 18 

Objects and nature of the divisions into orders, genera, and species 18 — 19 

27 



314 CONTENTS. 



Sect. II. Class I. Mammalia. 

This class at the head of the animal kingdom, and contains Man 20 

General similarity in the anatomical structure of the Mammalia 20 

Description of the anatomy of Man ; head, vertebral column, spinal mar- 
row, ribs, cavity of the chest, cavity of the abdomen, pelvis, and 

limbs 20—22 

Digestion ; action of the jaws and teeth j function of the stomach and 

gastric juice 22 — 23 

Functions of the intestines ; effect of the bile and pancreatic juice \ absorp- 
tion of the chyle by the lacteals, and passage into the left subclavian 

vein 23 

Circulation of the blood. Structure and office of the heart 23 — 24 

Course of the blood from the left subclavian vein through the heart, lungs, 

and body, and influence of the air upon it 24 — 25 

Termination of the circulation in the capillary vessels 25 

Of the brain, nerves, and senses 25—28 

Structure of other Mammalia 27 

Division into nine orders. Characters of the orders 27 — 28 

1. Bimaiia. Man the only instance of this order. Attempts to con- 

found him with apes. How distinguished 28 — 29 

Causes of man's superiority to other animals 29 — 30 

Races of mankind ; 1st, Caucasian j 2d, Mongolian ; 3d, African ; 

4th, American ; 5th, Malay. Accounts of these varieties 30 — 32 

Progress of man to the civilized state 32 — 34 

2. Quadrumana. Structure, habits, &c. Apes, Monkeys, Baboons, 

Sapajous, Ourang-outang, Chimpanze, Pongo 34 — 36 

3. Carnivora. Divided into several families 5 1st, Bats ; 2d, Insectivo- 

ra,— Hedge-hog, Mole, &c. 3 3d, Truly carnivorous animals,— Dog, 

Lion, Tiger, &x. ; 4th, Amphibia,— Seal and Morse 36—42 

4. Rodentia. Beaver, Jerboa, Hamster, Marmot, &c 42—44 

5. Edentata. Sloth, Armadillo, Ant-eater, &c 44 

6. Ruminantia. Camel and Dromedary, Lama, Bison, Camelopard, &c. 45 — 48 

7. Pachydermata. Elephant, Mammoth, Hippopotamus, Rhinoceros, Ta- 

pir, Hog, Horse, Ass, &cc 48 — 51 

8. Cetacea. Manati, Sea-cow and Dugong. Blowers, Whales, Por- 

poises, &c . 51 — 52 

9. Marsupialia. Account of their structure. Opossum, Phalangers, 

Kangaroo, Ornithorhynchus 52 — 55 



Sect. III. Class II Birds. 



Peculiarities in the structure of birds to adapt them for flight 55 

Organs of Digestion. Senses 56 — 57 

Orders of Birds. 1. Accipitres. Birds of Prey 57—58 

2. Passer es. The Sparrow tribe ; Birds of Paradise, Humming- 

birds, &c 58—59 

3. Sconsores. Climbers 5— Woodpecker, Cuckoo, Parrot, Toucan, &c... 59—60 

4. Gallinace®. Gallinaceous Birds j— Peacock, Turkey, Cock, Q,uail, &c. 60 



CONTENTS. 315 

5. OrallcB. Waders or Shore Birds ;— Flamingo, Ostrich, Rail, Plover, &c. 60—61 

6. Anseres. Web-footed Birds; — Goose, Duck, Petrel, Cormorant, &c... 61 

Sect. IV. Class III Reptiles. 

Peculiarities in the structure of Reptiles 61 — 62 

Orders of Reptiles. 1. Chelonia. Tortoises 62 

2. Sauria. Lizards ; — Crocodile, Chameleon, Dragon, Alligator, &c. . . . 62 — 63 

3. Ophidia. Serpents ; venomous and not venomous 63 — 64 

4. Batrachia. Frog, Toad, Salamander, Proteus, Siren, &c 64 — 65 

Sect. V. Class IV. Fishes. 

Peculiarities in the structure of Fishes 65 — 67 

Sect. VI. Class V. Insects. 

Structure of insects. Dorsal vessel. Mode of respiration. Nervous sys- 
tem, senses . 67 

No internal skeleton, external covering €7 

Head of Insects, mouth and organs around it, jaws and mode of action .... 68 

Legs and wings of Insects. Abdomen 68 — 69 

Metamorphoses of Insects 69 

Three stages of existence — Larva, Chrysalis, Perfect Insect 70 

Orders of Insects. 1. Coleoptera. Beetles, &c 71 

2. Hemiptera. Grasshopper, Cricket, &c 71 

3. Lepidoptera. Butterfly, Moth 71 

4. JYeuroptera. Dragon-fly, Ephemera, &c. 71 

5. Hijmenoptera. Ant, Wasp, Bee, &c 72 

6. Diptera. House-fly, Gnat, Musquetoe, &c 72 

7. Aptera. Millepedes, Flea, Louse, &c 73 

Family of the Araehnides or Spiders 73 

Their mode of transporting themselves through the air 73 

Sect. VII. Class VI Crustacea. 

Resemblance in some points to insects 74 

Structure, shell, claws j singular structure of the stomach in some species 75 

Sect. VIII. Class VII. Mollusca. 

Destitute of bones and articulated limbs. Testaceous covering to many species 76 

Nervous systems, respiration, circulation, digestion 77 

Orders of Mollusca 77 

Structure of the Cuttle-fish, their size 77 — 78 

Oyster, Clam, &c. Organs of locomotion 79 

Sect. IX. Class VIII. Vermes or Worms. 

Structure of Worms. Earth-worm, Leech, and Hair-worm 80 — 81 



316 CONTENTS. 



Sect. X. Class IX. Zoophytes. 

Lowest in the scale of the animated creation. Imperfectly known 82 

Echinodermata, most perfect of the class. Singular mode of locomotion . . 82 

Intestinal worms, found in all animals j mode of production 83 

Sea-nettles or Sea-anemones, Medusae, Polypes, Animalcules , . . . 83 — 84 



PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 

CHAPTER 1. 

OF RESPIRATION. 

Nature and composition of the Air. Influence it exerts on the blood .... 85 — 86 

Respiration of the Mammalia. Effects of other kinds of air . . .. 86 

Changes which take place in the air and in the blood. Animal heat 87 

Connection and mutual relation of respiration and circulation 88 

Respiration subservient to other purposes ; — voice, laughing, crying, &c. . 88 — 89 

Respiration in Birds, how carried on. Arrangement of their lungs 90 

Objects answered by this arrangement. Voice of Birds 91 

Respiration of Reptiles, Temperature of their bod 'en 91 — 92 

Respiration of Fishes. Air necessary to them 92 — 93 

Respiration of Insects. Different modes in which It is effected 93 — 97 

Respiration of the Crustacea, Mollusca, Worms, and Zoophytes 97 — 98 

Respiration of Plants 98 — 99 

CHAPTER II. 

OF THE MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 

Motions of animals, voluntary and involuntary 100 

Nature and organs of voluntary motion 100 — 101 

Nature and organs of involuntary motion 101 — 102 

Different motions of animals adapted to their mode of life, and propor- 
tioned to their weight and structure 102—104 

Mode in which locomotion is performed by the sea and fresh-water Mus- 
cles, the Limpin, Spout-fish, Scallop, Oyster, Sea-urchin, Medusa 
or Sea-nettle 104—108 

CHAPTER III. 

OF INSTINCT, 

Instinct and mental powers of animals 109 

Difference between man and other animals in capacity for improvement . . 109 — 110 



CONTENTS. 317 

Different effects of instinct and intelligence 110 

Division of Instincts into, 1. Pure instincts. Examples. 111—113 

2. Instincts which can accommodate themselves to peculiar* circumstances 
and situations, or such as are improvable by experience and observa- 
tion. Examples 114 

Of the notion that animals are machines. Nature and extent of their 

faculties 115—116 



CHAPTER IV. 

OF THE SENSES. 

Senses never more than five. All sensation conveyed by nerves 117 

1. Of Smelling. Its seat in the pituitary or Schneiderian membrane . . 117 

Offices of this sense in Man and other animals 118 — 119 

Of this sense in Fishes and invertebral animals 119 

2. Of Tasting. Organ of Taste. Manner in which the sensation is 

produced . 120 

Offices of this sense, and varieties of it 120 — 121 

3. Of Hearing. Organ of Hearing. Medium of sound. Reflection 

and velocity of sound . . . . 122 — 124 

Modifications of sound. Offices of this sense. Language 123 — 125 

4.- Of Touch. Feeling universally diffused. Touch confined to par- 
ticular parts 125—126 

Organs of Touch. Offices of this sense. Effects of habit upon it 126 — 128 

5. Of Seeing. Structure of the eye 128—129 

Of light, and the manner in which it produces vision 129 

Of some inexplicable phenomena of vision 130 — 132 

Of the distances of objects as determined by the eye 132 — 134 



CHAPTER V. 

OF INFANCY. 

Of Infancy in the human species 134—135 

Modes of managing Infants among different nations 135 — 136 

Proper management of Infants 136 — 138 

Of Infancy in Quadrupeds 140 

In Birds, Fishes, Insects, &c 140 — 141 



CHAPTER VI. 

OF THE GROWTH AND FOOD OF ANIMALS. 

Of the mode in which the nutrition of animals is effected 141 — 142 

Of the food of man — customs of different nations. Nature of man in 

respect to food 142 — 144 



318 CONTENTS. 

Of the food of animals. Rapidity of growth in some worms . . 144 — 148 

Of the function of digestion. Experiments of Spallanzani on stomachs 

of different kinds 148—151 

Experiments of Dr. Stevens on digestion in man 151 — 153 

Mr. Hunter's opinion of the powers of the stomach 153 — 154 



CHAPTER VII. 

OF THE TRANSFORMATION OF ANIMALS. 

Change which takes place in Man, Quadrupeds, Birds, Reptiles, &c, . ... 154 — 157 
Transformation of Insects. Of the metamorphoses which commonly take 

place 157—160 

Transformations which differ from the common mode. Spider-fly, Crane- 
fly, Nut-gall Insect, Moth, and Silkworm 160—164 

Mode in which the metamorphosis takes place 164 

Change in plants. Monstrous flowers 164 — 166 

Composition and decomposition of plants and animals , 166 

Final intention of Nature in these changes 166—168 



CHAPTER VIII. 



OF THE HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

Habitations of the same species uniform. Man an exception 168 

Habitations of Quadrupeds. Marmot, Beaver, and Mole 168 — 174 

Nests of Birds. Rapacious Birds. Magpies, Tailor-bird, Gallinaceous 
birds, Cuckoo, Passerine birds, Chinese Swallow, Waders, Web- 
footed birds 174—179 

Habitations of Insects. Solitary workers, — Mason-bee, Woodpiercers, 

Solitary bees, Solitary wasps 179 — 186 

Associating Insects. Combs of the Honey-bees ; mode in which they are 

constructed ; materials employed, and mode of preparation ........ 186 — 190 

Propolis, and the purpose for which it is collected by bees. Collection of 

honey 190—192 

Habitations of Wasps, materials and construction ; great fertility of 

Wasps ,. 192—194 

Some account of their manners and internal economy 194 — 199 

Habitations and economy of Ants 199 — 201 

Of the Termites or White Ants ; of the species denominated Termites 

bellicosi ; the three orders— Laborers, Soldiers, and Nobility 201—202 

Their great changes of form and size, and wonderful fertility 202 — 203 

Appearance of their nests, their construction ; the royal chambers and 

nurseries „ 203—207 

Courage and obstinacy with which they defend their habitations 207 — 209 



CONTENTS. 319 



CHAPTER IX. 

OF THE HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS. 

General destruction of animal life 209 — 210 

Man the universal destroyer 210 — 212 

Carnivorous Quadrupeds, — Lion, Tiger, Wolf, &c 212 — 214 

Rapacious Birds, their number less than of Quadrupeds 214 — 215 

All Fishes rapacious . . . 215 — 216 

Rapacity of different species of Insects . . . . . .-. ^ 216 — 219 

Man not the only animal that makes war with his own species 219 

Massacre of the male Bees by the neuters. Wars of Bees ... 220 

Havoc and cruelty among Wasps „ 220 — 221 

Of the final causes of this system of animal destruction, and the balance 
which it preserves in the creation between different kinds of 
animals 221—227 

CHAPTER X. 

OF THE ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 

Sources of the artifices of animals 227 

Cattle, Horses, Monkeys 227—228 

Arts used by the Stag, Fallow-deer, Roe-buck, and Hare, when hunted . . 228 — 230 

Craftiness and address of the Fox 230—232 

Glutton and Kamtschatka Rat 232—233 

Of Birds. Singular artifice of the Nine-killer 233—235 

Of the inhabitants of the ocean,— Fishes, Shell-fish, &c 235—236 

Of the Insect tribes 236—237 

CHAPTER XL 

OF THE SOCIETY OF ANIMALS. 

Not confined to the human species 238 

Origin of society among mankind 238 — 240 

The associating principle natural to man ; advantages of society 240 

1. Proper Societies. Man, Beaver, Hampster, Pairing birds 240 — 243 

Of the Honey-bees, Common Caterpillar, Processionary Caterpil- 
lar, Republican Caterpillar, Ants 243 — 248 

2. Improper Societies. Ox, Deer, Sheep, Hogs, Wild Dogs 249 — 250 

Society between animals of different species ,. 250 

CHAPTER XII. 

OF THE DOCILITY OF ANIMALS. 

Man superior to all other animals in ductility of mind , 250 — 251 

Accounts of the Ourang-Outang by Buffon, Brosse, Pyrard, &c 251—253 



320 CONTENTS. 

Of the Elephant, its sagacity, docility, utility, &c 253—260 

Of the Dog, Horse, Oxen of the Hottentots 260—265 

Articulation of words by some birds 265 — 266 

Musical and imitative faculties of singing birds 266 

Effects of Domestication upon different animals, in size, shape, color, &c. 266 — 268 
Of Albinoes 268—269 



CHAPTER XIII. 

OF THE COVERING, MIGRATION, AND TORPIDITY OF ANIMALS. 

Man capable of inhabiting in every climate 269 

Constitutions of other animals not so accommodating 269 — 270 

Means by which they are protected against climate and seasons 270 

1. Changes in the color and quantity of hair, fur, feathers, &c, in 

different climates and seasons 271 

How these changes operate to maintain the proper animal tem- 
perature 271 

2. Migrations of Birds. Swallows, question as to their torpidity or 

migration 272—273 

British species of Swallows ; their times of appearance and disap- 
pearance 273—274 

Different opinions concerning the periodical appearance and dis- 
appearance of Swallows 274 — 279 

Of Summer and Winter Birds of Passage ; their residence in dif- 
ferent seasons 279 

Of the Wild Goose, Solan Geese or Gannets in the Frith of Forth, 

and at St. Kilda 279—280 

Of partial migrations. Circumstances attending migrations 280—282 

The great rapidity of the flight of Birds removes one objection to 

their migration 282—283 

Migration not peculiar to Birds. Migrations of the human species 283 — 284 

Migrations of Quadrupeds and of Reptiles 284 — 285 

Migrations of Fishes ; — Salmon, Herring, Mackerel, &.c, and of the 

Land-crab 285—289 

Migrations of Insects. Migration to a certain extent a universal 

principle 289—290 

3. Torpidity. Quadrupeds which become torpid 290—291 

Temperature diminished in the torpid state 291 

Diminution in the force and rapidity of the circulation 291 

Causes of torpidity, and some phenomena attending it 291 

Of the torpidity of Birds, Reptiles, &c 292—293 



CHAPTER XIV. 

OF THE LONGEVITY AND DISSOLUTION OF ORGANIZED 
BODIES. 

Dissolution of organized bodies a general law of nature 293 

Length of the life of Man .v.. 293—294 



CONTENTS. 321 

Instances of longevity from Piiny . . ... .-. ... 294 

Instances of longevity in modern times ...... 295 — 296 

Professor Silliman's account of a very aged man in the state of New York 296 — 298 

In Women the operation of the causes of death often retarded 298 

Circumstances which favor longevity in Man and other animals 299 — 300 

Table of longevity of Quadrupeds, their period of maturity, and number 

of young .... 300—301 

Great longevity of Birds and Fishes 301—303 

Length of the life of Reptiles. Remarkable Toad 303—304 

Shortness of the life of Insects . . . . , . . 304 

Great diversity in the longevity of Plants .... ...... .. 305 

Actual duration of life in Man and other animals ..... 305 — 306 

Benevolence of the provisions of nature in this respect 306 



CHAPTER XV. 

OF THE PROGRESSIVE SCALE OR CHAIN OF BEINGS IN THE 
UNIVERSE. 

Mutual connection and dependence of all created things 307 

Man the chief link in the chain of animals 307 — 308 

His structure and powers adapted to the rank which he holds 308 

Uniform plan of gradation in nature 308 

Gradation from Man downwards, through the Monkeys, Bats, &c 308 — 309 

Instances in which individuals of different classes approach each other in 

structure and powers 309 

All substances possessed of powers, qualities, &c, exactly proportioned to 

the relations they maintain in the universe .. ... . ........... ............... 310 

Unity of design in the universe an argument for the unity of God ... 310 

No being superior to man could exist in this world 310 

Conclusion .. 311 



EXPLANATIONS 



SOME OF THE SCIENTIFIC TERMS OR UNUSUAL WORDS WHICH 
OCCUR IN THE COURSE OF THIS WORK. 



Accipitrine, belonging to the first order of birds, called Accipitres, Birds of Prey. 

Alburnum, the outer and most recent layer of wood in trees. 

Alluvia, soils formed from the muddy sediment of rivers, or from the earth washed 

down by rains and torrents from mountains. 
Ammonia, or Ammoniacal gas, a pungent air which gives its peculiar qualities to 

volatile salts or hartshorn drops. 
Antenna, organs of touch situated near the mouths of insects, having many joints. 
Anther, a small body which contains the pollen or fertilizing dust of flowers ; the 
anthers are fixed generally on the ends of slender filaments, and surround the 
germ or seed-vessel. 
Articulations, joints formed by the union of bones. 

Auricles, two appendages to the heart, so called from their supposed resemblance to 
the external ear (auricula). They are hollow and muscular. Their office is 
described, pp. 24, 25. 
dzote, see Nitrogen. 

Bimanous, two-handed ; belonging to the order Bimana. 

Bivalved, having two valves or shells ; applied to shell-fish, as the oyster, clam, &c. 
Calcareous, composed of lime. 
Caloric, the ultimate principle of heat. 

Canine, as applied to the teeth, designates those commonly called dog-teeth or eye- 
teeth. They are peculiarly adapted to tearing flesh, p. 27. 
Capillary, hair-like. The extreme vessels of the body are so called on account of 

their indefinite minuteness. 
Carbon, pure charcoal ; it is a component part of most animal and vegetable sub- 
stances. 
Carbonic acid gas, fixed air; the gas produced by the burning of charcoal, and 
the effervescence of chalk, marble, and other calcareous substances, with 
acids. 
Carbonic oxide, a gas composed of carbon and oxygen. 
Carbureted hydrogen, hydrogen combined with a portion of carbon. 
Cartilage, gristle. 
Cellular, composed of cells. 

Cetaceous, of the whale kind ; belonging to the order Cetacea. 
Chlorine, a highly irritating and deleterious gas, produced by the distillation of 
manganese with muriatic acid. 



324 EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS. 

Chrysalid, an insect in its second or chrysalis state, p. 70. 

Cod, the case or envelope formed by many insects to enshroud and protect them 

during the chrysalis state. 
Comminution, grinding, or breaking up into small parts. 
Condiments, substances taken with the food, not containing any nourishment, but 

used as seasoning, to promote appetite and digestion, as salt, pepper, &c. 
Congeries, a collection, a heap. 
Crustaceous, belonging to the class Crustacea, having a shelly covering with joints, 

allowing the free motion of the body and limbs. 
Crystalline lens, a double convex lens, formed of a transparent animal substance, 

situated within the eye, and serving to collect the rays of light passing in at the 

pupil, and to transmit them to the retina. 
Diaphragm, the midriff 3 a broad, thin, muscular membrane, extending across the 

cavities of the trunk of the body, and separating the thorax or chest from the 

abdomen or belly. 
Dormant, as applied to animals, designates those which pass a part of the year in a 

state of torpidity. 
Elytra, cases, the horny or shell-like external wings of some insects. 
Espalier , trees planted and cut so as to join. 
Extravasate, to pass or force out of the proper containing vessels. Blood which 

settles under the skin in consequence of a blow, is said to be extravasated. 
Farina, the dust which bees collect from the antherse and flowers of plants to form 

into wax. 
Filament, a substance long and slender like a thread. 
Frugivorous, feeding upon fruits. 

Fulcrum, the point of support on which a lever is moved. 
Gallinaceous, belonging to the fourth order of birds, Gallinacem. 
Gas, a term used in chemistry, nearly synonymous with air. A\ fluids which 

remain in an aeriform state at the ordinary pressure and temperature of the 

atmosphere are called gases. 
Gastric, appertaining to the stomach. 
Gastric juice, a fluid prepared by the stoma h to assist in dissolving and digesting 

the food. 
Gelatinous, of the composition or consistence of jelly. 
Glands, organs in living bodies intended for the secretion, or separation from the 

blood, of fluids of various kinds ; as the l.ver, which separates the bile ; the 

kidneys, the urine, &c. 
Graminivorous, feeding upon grass. 
Gregarious, living in flocks and herds. 
Herbivorous, feeding upon herbs, i. e. plants whose stems are soft and have but 

little that is woody or fibrous in their texture. 
Homogeneous, having the same nature or principle. 
Hydrogen, one of the elements of water ; it can only be obtained in the state of a 

very light and inflammable gas. 
Imbricated, arranged like slate or shingles on a roof, or like the scales of fish. 
Incisors, Incisive teeth, the front or cutting teeth, p. 27. 
Incubation, the sitting upon and hatching of eggs. 
'Intumescence, swelling, enlargement. 

Invertebral, without vertebrae, or back-bone ; used to designate one of the two 
grand divisions of the animal kingdom, including those which have no internal 
skeleton. 
Larva, an insect in its first state, commonly called a worm or caterpillar, p. 70 



EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS. 325 

Lens, any circular transparent body, with either convex or concave surfaces, for the 
purpose of collecting or dispersing the rays of light. 

Locomotion, motion from place to place. 

Macerate, to soak a substance in any liquid, till its texture is softened. 

Marsupial. Animals having a pouch or bag (marsupium) for containing their 
young after jirth are called Marsupial animals j in this work they are all 
arranged under one order, Marsupialia, but have been usually distributed 
among the other orders. 

Mastication, the act of chewing the food and mixing it with saliva. 

Membranes, thin, broad expansions of animal substance, covering all the important 
organs, and lining all the organs and cavities in the bodies of animals. Thus 
the nose is lined by the Schneiderian or pituitary, and the eye covered by the 
conjunctive membrane ; the stomach and bladder are each formed of several 
membranes laid together. 

Menstruum, a dissolvent j any substance in which another substance may be dis- 
solved. 

Molares, Molar teeth, the grinders or double teeth, p. 27. 

Mucus, a viscid animal fluid ; such as the phlegm which is poured out from the 
nose, or raised up from the throat in common colds. 

Multivalved, having many valves or shells j applied to some shell-fish, as the sea 
urchin, sea-egg, &c. 

Muscles (in Anatomy), bundles of fibrous flesh, fixed by tendons or sinews to the 
bones, and serving to move them one upon another at their joints. In the mam- 
malia, birds, and some reptiles, they are of a red color j in other animals, for the 
most. part, white. They constitute the greatest portion of the flesh of animals, 
and are the parts principally used as food. 

Nectariferous, bearing or producing honey j applied to certain parts of plants from 
which honey is collected. 

Nidus, a nest; any place where the eggs of animals are deposited for hatching. 

Nitrogen or Azote, one of the gases which compose atmospheric air : its qualities are 
negative, and its principal use seems to be merely to dilute the oxygen. 

Nitrous ozyde, a gas composed of oxygen and nitrogen in different proportions from 
those in which they exist in atmospheric air ; remarkable for its power of in- 
toxicating and exhilarating those who breathe it. 

Nymphce, nymphs, insects in their second or chrysalis state. 

(Esophagus, the gullet ; the passage through which the food passes from the mouth 
to the stomach. 

Oviparous, producing young by means of eggs. 

Oxygen, vital air ; the principle upon which atmospheric ail depends for its power 
of supporting life and combustion. It forms also one of the component parts of 
water. 

Pachydermatous, thick-skinned ; belonging to the order Pachydermata. 

Palpi, organs situated near the mouth of some insects, resembling in some degree 
the antenna? in their structure. 

Papier mache, chewed paper. 

Papilla. The terminations of the nerves in the skin and other organs of sense are 
supposed to form little eminences, which are called papilla. 

Papion a perruque, baboon with a wig. 

Parachute, a machine often attached to an air-balloon, and constructed so as to 
open like an umbrella, and break the fall of a person descending from any great 
height in the air. 

Passerine, belonging to the order Passeres, or birds of the sparrow kind. 

28 



326 EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS. 

Peristaltic. The intestines of animals are constantly undergoing a sort of motion^ 

by which their contents are moved through them, which appears like that of 

the creeping of a worm. It is called their vermicular or peristaltic motion. 
Permanently elastic, applied to fluids, denotes those which retain their elastic state 

at the ordinary pressure and temperature of the atmosphere 
Petals, the colored leaves of the flowers of plants. 
Pituitary, one of the names of the membrane lining the nose. 
Quadrumanous, four-handed, belonging to the order Quadrumana 
Radiation of heat, the passing of heat from bodies through an intervening space in 

rays like light, used in contradistinction to the direct transmission of heat by 

contact. 
Radiated, arranged like the radii or rays of a circle. 
Rationale, a detail of any course of phenomena or operations with the principle or 

reason on which they proceed. 
Retina, a nervous membrane situated on the back part of the eye, and intended 

to receive the images of external objects; formed by the expansion of the optic 

nerve as it comes out from the brain into the eye. 
Retrograde, going backward, moving backward. 
Reviviscence, renewal of life. 
Rugosity, roughness, inequality of any kind. 
Ruminate, to chew the cud : this operation is described, pp. 45, 46. 
Saliva, spittle, the liquid which moistens the mouth, and mixes with the food in 

mastication. 
Sapid, having taste. 
Schneiderian, one of the names of the membrane lining the nose, derived from the 

name of the anatomist who first described it. 
Sea-anemone, an animal of the class of Zoophytes, so called from some degree of 

resemblance in its form to an expanded flower. 
Serrated, notched like a saw. 
Spinal, belonging to the back-bone or spine. 
Spleen, a small oblong organ situated on the left side of the stomach, just under the 

ribs ; of a reddish blue or purple color, and very full of blood. 
Stalactites, substances deposited in caves or the fissures of rocks from the droppings 

of water which contain lime in solution. 
Sternum, the breast-bone. 

Stigma, in Botany, the extremity of the germ or seed-vessel of flowers. 
Stimuli, substances which stimulate or excite. 
Strata, beds, layers. 
Subclavian, lying underneath the clavicle or collar bone j as the subclavian artery, 

the subclavian vein. 
Substratum, foundation, groundwork. 
Subtend. A line which passes across from one of the lilies forming an angle, to the 

other, is said to subtend that angle. 
Sulphureted hydrogen, hydrogen combined with a portion of sulphur. 
Suture, a mode of union which takes place in the bones of the head and face, in 

which the edge of one bone is let into that of another by means of correspond- 
ing indentations in each, the line of union appearing like a seam (sutura), 

whence the name. 
Tendons, white, smooth, and strong cords by which muscles are generally fixed to 

the bones ; usually called cords or sinews. 
Tendrils, the filaments by which creeping or climbing plants attach theFiselves to 

other objects for support, as those of the vine, ivy, &c. 



EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS. 327 

Teritacuba, often called feelers ; organs supplying, the. place of hands and arms to 
some animals, intended both for feeling, and for seizin g^and holding food or 
other substances, or conveying them to the mouth. 

Testaceous, having a shelly covering, but without joints or articulated limbs. 

Thorax, the chest, a cavity in the body formed by the back-bone behind, the ster- 
num before, the ribs on each side, and the diaphram below, which last sepa- 
rates it from the abdomen. 

Triturate, to pound up, or reduce to powder, as in a mortar. 

Truncated cone, a cone divided, or cut off. 

Univalved, having only one shell or valve, applied to shell-fish, as the cockle, 
nautilus, &c. 

Vascular, consisting of vessels ; relating to vessels, i. e. arteries, veins, &c. 

Venous, appertaining to the veins. 

Ventricles, muscular cavities of the heart, which receive the blood from the auricles, 
and transmit it by their contraction through the arteries. Their office is 
described, pp. 24, 25. 

Veriebrce, the bones of which the back-bone is composed. 

Vertebral, having vertebrae ; used to designate one of the grand divisions of the ani- 
mal kingdom, and including those animals which have an internal skeleton. 

Viscus, plural Viscera; used principally to designate organs contained in the great 
cavities of the body, as the brain, heart, stomach, &c. 

Viviparous, producing young alive. 









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L 'BF)AFIY 







